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Browning's player-prince : Hohenstiel-Schwangau, saviour of society.

Soheil, Kian

Download date: 08. Feb. 2022

BROWNINGS PLAYER-PRINCE:

HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, SAVIOUR OF SOCIETY

Kian Soheil

King's College, London

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

2

Abstract

Browning's poem on Louis Napoleon, Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society, is

his major statement on politics; it is also his most neglected work. The poems

topicality, novel form, and complicated verse have collaborated to make it

misunderstood and unpopular. A detailed examination of the poems history,

structure, content, and allusions demonstrates that, when read within its proper framework, it is a masterly psychological study, a celebration of Browning's liberalism,

and an important experiment in the dramatic monologue form.

My purpose in this dissertation is to place and examine the poem within its proper

textual, formal, topical, historical, and political context, and demonstrate that, contrary

to previous opinion, Browning's view on Louis Napoleon is not ambivalent, but

evident. The introductory chapter traces the poem's critical history, explains the

reasons for its unpopularity, introduces its subject, and lists Browning's qualifications to

write such a poem. Chapter 2 is concerned with textual matters. It argues for the use of the first edition as copy-text, traces the conception and development of the poem, and

compares all relevant editions. Chapter 3 explains Browning's formal innovation of disguising a soliloquy as a dramatic monologue and, consequently, the need for a new

methodology of interpretation. It argues that the poem is best understood when viewed

as a play. Chapter 4 describes various references and allusions which are necessary for

the modem reader's understanding and enjoyment of the poem. Chapter 5 covers the

period of history depicted in the poem. It provides the necessary background for

understanding the political arguments, and shows how both Browning and the Prince

use the Prince's version of events to make their points. The final chapter deals with the

relationship between Browning and the Prince from a political point of view; it

examines the casuistic nature of the Prince's political philosophy, and the poet's attitude towards his subject based on Browning's works and letters.

3

Contents

Title 1 Abstract 2 Contents 3 Illustrations 4 Acknowledgements 5 General Note 5 Abbreviations 6

1 Introductory 7 Reception 7 Misrepresentation 11 Temporal Setting 18 Louis Napoleon 24 Browning 29

2 Text 39 Evolution 42 Texts 51

3 Form 68 Mise-en-scene 92 literary Ancestry 101

4 Topicality 108 "Crowned the edifice" 113 "A pork-pie hat and crinoline" 122 "Sphynx" 129 "Leicester Square" 135 "Friend Home's stilts and tongs and medium ware" 140 "Thiers-and-Victor-Hugo exercise" 146 "Hohenstiel-Schwangau's policy is peace! " 161

5 History 167 The Presidency and Coup d'$tat 170 The Roman Republic 183 Savoy and Nice 193 Dynastic Ambitions 211

6 Politics 226 The Prince 229 Browning 247

Bibliography 265

4

Illustrations

"The President's Progress": Punch, December 1848, p. 277. 25 "Advancing": James M. Haswell, The Story of the Life of Napoleon III

(Hotten, 1871), p. 222. 26 "The French Sphinx": Punch, February 1852, p. 54. 91 "An Imperial Hamlet": Fun, 5 September 1868, p. 269. "The Last Act": Punch, 21 September 1861, p. 117. "A Stage-Wait": Punch, 9 October 1869, p. 139. 98 "Professor of Political Sleight of Hand": Punch, February 1852, p.

51. 99 "Called to Play a Part", "The Prince President'": James M. Haswell,

The Story of the Life of Napoleon III (Hotten, 1871), p. 180, p. 232.

"Bill of a French Play": Punch, 3 December 1851, p. 257. 100 "Boucher National de la France": Frederic Justen, Napoleon III.

devant la presse contemporaine en 1873,3 tomes (1873), I, Folded Plate, item #1. 119

"Under the Mistletoe": Punch, 3 January 1857, p. 10. "Brighton Jewels": Punch, 27 October 1860, p. 164. "Fast Young Ladies": Punch, 16 August 1860, p. 67. 126 "The French Sphinx, or the Riddle of the Present": Punch, 7 August

1858, p. 55. 134 "Hints for the Improvement of Leicester Square": Punch, 29

September 1866, p. 129. 138 The Statue in 1866: John Hollingshead, The Story of Leicester Square

(Simpkin, Marshall, 1892), p. 71. 139 "Home, Great Home": Punch, 18 August 1860, p. 63. 141 "The Great French Medium": Punch, 15 March 1862, p. 105. 145 "The Spirit Hand": Punch, 12 May 1860, p. 189. 146 "The French Porcupine": Punch, 19 February 1859, p. 75. 163 "Brennus-Bonaparte": Punch, 21 December 1867, p. 253. 193 "A La Mode Francaise": Punch, 4 August 1860, p. 45. 196 "Free Italy? ": Punch, 23 July 1859, p. 37. 209 "Hohenschwangau": Joseph Hormayr [Baron von Hortenburg],

Die Goldene chronik von Hohenschwangau (München: Georg Franz, 1842), p. 190. 254

Punch, 21 June 1862, p. 247. 264

Acknowledgments

My thanks to my supervisor, John Woolford, for his generous and efficient advice and direction. To Philip Kelley and Scott Lewis for sharing with me their unequalled knowledge of the lives of the Brownings. To the Master and Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford for permission to use the Browning MSS in their collection. To the British Library for permission to reproduce material from their collection. To King's College, London for a grant to cover travelling and reproduction expenses.

General Note

Unless otherwise stated, the place of publication of all references is London. I have used my own translations except for instances where I have given only an English reference, or have cited the English reference first. I have given the names of the translators whenever provided by the publishers.

All quotations from Browning are from first editions of his poems (LAEP is used for poems up to 1846). Quotations from the Brownings' letters are taken from the most recent scholarly editions and, whenever necessary, the details are corrected from Checklist. All quotations from MS letters are under the owners' copyright and may not be used without their permission. Quotations from Shakespeare are from the Globe Edition (Macmillan, 1866); those from the Bible, from the Holy Bible (Oxford: The Bible Press, 1829). Whenever possible I have used contemporary sources and relevant material which the Brownings were either familiar with or which were contained in their library (listed in Philip Kelley and Betty A. Coley, The Browning Collections: A Reconstruction with Other Memorabilia).

Punch and The Times are used extensively to corroborate information in the poem. As leaders in their respective fields, and as Louis Napoleon's leading critics, they are the ideal sources for the allusions and references in the poem. By the same token, their praise would have to be considered non-partisan and dependable. On a more personal level, Punch was regularly allowed in France and Louis Napoleon was known to collect his appearances in it, though the cartoons would be torn out for the benefit of the populace (Marion Spielman, History of Punch, p. 191, p. 199). And despite EBB's pervasive recriminations ("Robert accuses me of being 'glad' that the new Times correspondent has been suddenly seized with Roman fever"), I believe Browning was satisfied with the paper's attitude and treatment of Louis Napoleon ("His extraordinary knowledge of all that related to the Times newspaper was also subject of remark at Balliol, and his great admiration for Delane", William H. Griffin and Harry C. Minchin, The Life of Robert Browning, p. 290).

Abbreviations

American Friends Browning to His American Friends: Letters between the Brownings, the Storys and James Russell Lowel 1841-1890, ed. by Gertrude R. Hudson (Bowes & Bowes, 1965)

AR The Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature of the Year (R. Dodsley, 1758-)

Checklist Philip Kelley and Ronald Hudson, The Brownings' Correspondence: A Checklist, (New York: The Browning Institute, 1978)

Correspondence The Brownings' Correspondence, ed. by Philip Kelley, Ronald Hudson, Scott Lewis (Winfield: Wedgestone Press, 1984-)

Dearest Isa Dearest Isa: Robert Browning's Letters to Isabella Blagden, ed. by Edward C. McAleer (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1951)

DeVane William C. DeVane, A Browning Handbook, 2nd edn (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1955)

DNB Dictionary of National Biography, ed. by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, 63 voll (Smith, Elder, 1885-1900)

Dryer Thomas H. Dryer, History of Modern Europe, 4 vols (John Murray, 1861-1864), vol. 4

EBB Elizabeth Barrett Browning FR Fortnightly Review George Barrett Letters of the Brownings to George Barrett, ed. by Paul Landis and

Ronald Freeman (Urbana: University of Ihnois, 1958) Hansard [Hansard's] Parliamentary Debates, 3rd ser., 356 vols (1831-1891) Hood Letters of Robert Browning: Collected by Thomas J. Wise, ed. by

Thurman L. Hood (John Murray, 1933) Huxley Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Letters to Her Sister, 1846-1859, ed. by

Leonard Huxley (John Murray, 1929) ILN Illustrated London News Kenyon The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ed. by Frederic G.

Kenyon, 2 vols (Smith, Elder, 1897) LAEP The Poems of Browning, ed. by John Woolford and Daniel Karlin,

(Longman, 1991-) LQR London Quarterly Review MM Macmillan's Magazine New Letters New Letters of Robert Browning, ed. by William C. DeVane and K.

L. Knickerbocker (John Murray, 1951) Oeuvres Oeuvres de Napoleon 111,5 tomes (Paris: Plon & Amyot, 1856-69) Penguin Robert Browning: The Poems, ed. by John Pettigrew and Thomas J.

Collins, 2 vols (Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1981) PHW The Political and Historical Works of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 2

vols (Illustrated London Library, 1852) PMLA Publications of the Modern Language Association of America SM Spiritual Magazine TEM Tait's Edinburgh Magazine

7

Chapter 1

Introductory

Reception

Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society is the least read and most denigrated of Browning's works despite his praise of it as "a rather important poem" and "a sample

of my very best work". 1 He told his publisher: "The fact is, the piece is substantial, - unless I flatter myself, -and whoever digests it will think he has had a good meal-to judge by the aching of his jaws! "2 One reason for such approbation might be that,

according to Mrs Orr, as Browning grew older he developed a conviction that a person's latest work must be his best as it is the product of a more mature and experienced

mind. 3 Such a tendency might explain, and counter, Browning's obvious excitement, except that, apart from Sordello and The Ring and the Book, Browning had not lavished

such praise, with such conviction, on any other of his poems. The praise was echoed by

Chesterton, arguably Browning's best critic, who described the poem as "one of the

finest and most picturesque of all Browning's apologetic monologues- .4 Among contemporary reviewers the attitude was, for the most part, very

favourable. The Daily News saw it as "a very remarkable poem", "profound", "subtle",

"masterly", and predicted that it "will take its rank with the finest of Mr. Browning's

writings" .5 The Saturday Review, despite complaints about passages which showed Browning at his "harshest and most enigmatic manner", and of lines which "contain

agglomerations of tuneless syllables", admitted that Browning's "marvellous involution

of thought is in itself no inconsiderable pleasure". The poem was "but one of the fullest

examples of his extraordinary power of reasoning in verse" and the Emperor had every

1 To E. Dickinson West (Mrs. Dowden), 14 November 1871, Hood, p. 151. Dearest Isa, p. 367. 2 To George Smith, 8 November 1871, MS with john Murray. 3 Alexandra Sutherland Orr, Life and Letters of Robert Browning, ed. by Fredric G. Kenyon (Smith, Elder, 1908), hereafter Orr Life, p. 360. 4 Gilbert K. Chesterton, Robert Browning (Macmillan, 1903), hereafter Chesterton, p. 121. 519 December 1871, p. 5.

8

reason to be grateful for "an apologist who sometimes defends his conducts and

motives with the subtle ingenuity of which he might perhaps himself be scarcely

capable- .6 The Examiner, in an excellent piece of criticism, qualified that the poem if

"not superior to some other of the splendid monologues... is, perhaps, as good as any". It combines "important contributions to great and perplexing political questions of the

day with a very subtle dissection" of character; and that Browning has never "exhibited

more pungent wit and caustic humour than in some portions of this latest of his

works". 7 The [London Church] Guardian, in a very respectful tone, gave an account of

the poem, noted "a number of highly skilful and agreeable variations", and advised the

reader that the Prince "is a person well worth their attention" .8 The Graphic, while

bemoaning Browning's "old devious ways of telling an obvious story, the old want of

simplicity", called it "one of the most remarkable poems of the present age"; "by far the

most delicate, subtle piece of delineation of public character ever painted by poet"; "a

splendid composition, and one well worthy of Mr. Browning's great powers" 9 The

Athenaeum was content to praise it as "worthy" of Browning and able "to hold its own

even with 'Sordello"', and, uniquely, pointed out that the poem should be read many times before the reader can begin to understand and appreciate the richness of its

contents. 10 The review in the Scotsman was one long panegyric, full of praise and

admiration in every line 11

There were five negative reviews and they all failed, in various degrees, to allow for

the dramatic form of the poem and/or to accept the historical treatment. In most cases

the reviewer's distaste was caused by his disagreement as to the proper poetic treatment

of the subject-matter. The Academy, the least condemnatory of the five, found the

speaker of the poem "a little tedious" at first, but "decidedly attractive and even fascinating when we come to know him well". However, it felt that in general it is

difficult and dangerous to attempt to analyze character in dramatic form it was "a

matter for regret that the History of Hohenstiel-Schwangau should be simply identical

with the History of France" -and that it had to be suddenly cut short. 12 In a similar

6 27 January 1872, pp. 118-19. 7 23 December 1871, pp. 1267-68. 814 February 1872, p. 229. 913 January 1872, p. 30. 10 23 December 1871, pp. 827-28. 1121 December 1871, p. 6. 12 15 January 1872, p. 25.

9

manner the Spectator did acknowledge "a number of subtle and sometime very finely

expanded apologies", but was "disappointed" in the poem's failure to paint a proper

portrait of the Emperor who deserved "an exhaustive discussion". The work, it

emphasized, especially suffers because, for the most part, the views expressed were

those of Browning, not the Emperor. Therefore, as "a fragment it is powerful", but it "is

hardly, even in design, a picture of the character of the great enigma of modem

Europe". 13 The Literary World was also disappointed with Browning's approach. Given

the length of the poem, it expected a comprehensive treatment. One of its objections

was that the poem "entirely omits representation of the influence upon Napoleon III. of

the writings and the career of Napoleon I. If we rightly comprehend the character of

Louis Napoleon, this is a serious omission. "14 It is ironic and unfortunate that the

reviewer, who had begun his article praising Browning's character-studies, when

confronted with such an apparently surprising lapse on the part of a psychological poet

of Browning's stature does not inconvenience himself to think of a possible reason.

Perhaps the Prince was finding the burden of inadequacy slightly heavier than usual on

the night of his reverie and did not wish to invoke the memory of "his" illustrious

uncle's achievements for his audience. Of the five reviews only two were abusive and, not surprisingly, they appeared in

The Times and the ILN. 15 The reviewer of the Illustrated, clearly a great admirer of the

Emperor, and clearly not a literary critic, expected a work contributing to "historical

biography" or to "moral philosophy". Hence he was disappointed to discover "glaring

distortions", "wrong ingredients", "exaggeration of certain features" and no

correspondence "with the real state of the case". The poem, therefore, was an

"offensive impertinence", a "gross instance of bad taste", and "utterly worthless" 16 The

Times, faithful to its dictum that poetry "ought to express thoughts which are great and

wise and true and beautiful" told with "simplicity and directness", found the style

13 30 November 1871, pp. 1606-07. 14 5 January 1872, p. S. 15 Alfred Austires review in the Standard (6 January 1872, p. 5) was also abusive-as can be expected. I have not included it in my discussion because his comments have very little relevance to the poem and merely reflect his animosity towards Browning. His review of Balaustion (17 August 1871, p. 5) can be similarly described. 1613 January 1872, P. 35.

10

"crabbed beyond belief" and the poem "ridiculous", "absurd", and "a most flagrant

piece of impropriety... out of keeping with all matter of fact" 17

Words like "impertinence" and "impropriety" strongly suggest the influence of the

reviewers' politics on their aesthetic and critical sensibility. Of all the publications that

reviewed the poem only The Times and the Illustrated were not liberal in their politics. Even though politics had become a major qualification for many publications in the

nineteenth century, it would be misleading to assume that their political affiliation was

unchangeable or that their politics necessarily would always be reflected in their

literary criticism. 18 For example, the very conservative Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine

sometimes exhibited liberal tastes in literary matters, while a conservative bent

occasionally could be detected in the pages of the Spectator. 19 Differences in aesthetics

was also a basis for contention. The Times would lament, "our poets seem to go no

longer with us in any of our hopes and fears, our successes and failures", avoiding

"such themes of human interest as our great political measures in their various bearings

and results" 20 The Graphic would state that "poetry runs a perilous risk of degradation

when it chooses its subject matter from contemporary events" 21 Needless to say, the

poem, dealing with the most contemporary subject-matter possible, was praised by the

Graphic and censured by The Times.

17 2 January 1873, p. 5. Fifine at the Fair (June 1872) was also reviewed in the same article. At the time, Louis Napoleon was known to be dying, which he did a week later. 18 I am not making a distinction between magazine and newspaper reviews because while newspapers, as a rule, maintained a more distinct political stance, their reviews were not noticeably different in terms of quality or quantity from those of periodicals. The nineteenth century Review periodical differed from earlier periodicals in two ways: "it was comparatively free from the bookseller's influence, and it was affected as never before by political partisanship", Walter Graham, English Literary Periodicals (New York: Nelson, 1930), hereafter, Graham, p. 227. An attempt was also made to reduce publisher's influence in editorial policies. To that effect, the republican Charles Dilke of the Athenaeum was strongly opposed to trade and paid criticism. See Harold A. Innis, "The English Press in the Nineteenth Century: An Economic Approach", University of Toronto Quarterly, 15 (1945), 37-53 (p. 44). 19 Graham, pp. 279-80. Henry R. F. Bourne, English Newspapers, 2 vols (Chatto & Windus, 1887), hereafter Bourne, II, pp. 46-7, p. 291, pp. 322-24. Robert Stephen Rintoul's Spectator was one of the country's leading publications in the quality of its writing and its advocacy of political reform, but during the thirteen years following his death in 1858, the Weekly became much less radical. One explanation for the behaviour of Blackuwood's is supplied by Browning in a letter to Alfred Domen "there is an odd way the Tory prints have, at present, of getting along -they hire Liberals, and let them be Liberal: so that the market is thrown open", 15 May 1843, Correspondence, VII, p. 125. Two years later he mentions a "brutal" review, in Blackwood's, "of the old kind", 23 February 1845, Correspondence, X, p. 89. 20 2 January 1873, p. 5. 2113 June 1872, p. 30.

11

The Illustrated was the paper of the middle-classes, more concerned with domestic

matters than politics, and a clear advocate of the Empire. As such, it treated the French

Emperor with the respect due to Britain's foremost ally (the two countries were trade

partners and had fought together in the Crimea and the Orient). The Times was

generally in favour of the policies of conservative governments and was the leading

critic of the Emperor in Britain. Despite their opposing views on Louis Napoleon both

papers abused the poem with the same vehemence, but only The Times was careful to

ridicule the dramatic setting of the poem and express no opinions on the Emperor.

Given the attitude of the Times towards Louis Napoleon, one would have expected a favourable review. What puts the two publications into the same category is their

adherence to their general policy of denigrating Browning. The Illustrated's reviews of Browning were usually a treasury of invective and sarcasm, and the Times, with much

condescension, relished comparing Browning unfavourably with the writings of German philosophers.

Misrepresentation

The Scotsman had warned the reader that "Two classes of critics will discuss the

work -one with reference to its view of Napoleon, and they will widely differ; the other

with reference to its merits as a poem, and they will for the most part agree that it is

good". The statement proved accurate, with the qualification that only one critic (Illustrated) belonged to the former class. It is strange then that no other work by

Browning has been so continuously misread, misunderstood, dismissed, and, at times,

ridiculed. Despite Chesterton's approbation the poem, by the turn of the century, had

gained a reputation as "one of the rockiest and least attractive of all of Browning's

poems" -a view that has changed very little since. Frederic G. Kenyon tried to be polite in his introduction to the Centenary Edition of Browning's works and wrote that the

poem "cannot be said to rank high among his works, and much of it is somewhat

unattractive". In the 1950s the view was that the poem "has not virtue enough to

sustain its ponderous bulk, and occupies the lowest place among its author's productions". And as recently as 1987 one reads that "certainly any praise given to Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau must be greatly qualified". 22 Chesterton, himself, is not

22 Charles H. Herford, Robert Browning (Blackwood, 1905), p. 197. The Works of Robert Browning (Smith, Elder, 1912), VII, p. xi. Henry Duffin, Amphibian: A Reconstruction of Browning (Bowes &

12

immune from the charge of irresponsibility in relation to the poem: he does make the

patronizing (and misleading) statement that contemporary critics failed to understand

the poem. One of the reasons for the poem's later unpopularity had to do with the identity the

poem's protagonist. The disastrous war with Prussia, culminating with the surrender at Sedan of the Emperor and half the French army, was the most humiliating defeat in

French history. Perhaps unfairly, the Emperor was given all the blame and, soon after, Louis Napoleon's name and memory were actively repressed. Apart from retrospective

and unreliable mention in some memoirs and reminiscences, people felt more

comfortable to put the Emperor out of their minds along with the shame of defeat. The

peace and stability he had forced upon France for eighteen years, which even in 1869

was approved of by the majority of the voters, came to be viewed as a period of waste

and stagnation. His final legacy of defeat and civil war over-shadowed his role as the

"saviour of society". 24 According to Chesterton,

Mankind has always been somewhat inclined to forgive the adventurer who destroys or re-creates, but there is nothing inspiring about the adventurer who merely preserves. We have sympathy with the rebel who aims at reconstruction, but there is something repugnant to the imagination in the rebel who rebels in the name of compromise. 25

The Athenaeum reported that the news of the Emperor's death caused very little

reaction:

He was a wonder, reigned some twenty years, and died almost unheeded and unknown. Brother citizens, in the streets of Paris, or the official Seigniors, in the foyer de 1'Opera, greet each other, saying only, "The Emperor is dead! " -"I knew it"; -and go off. No passion is stirring; nobody feels angry, or glad, or excited in any way.

The correspondent of the Daily Telegraph observed a similar reaction:

Bowes, 1956), pp. 167-68. Thomas E. Fish, "Questing for 'the Base of Being': The Role of Epiphany in Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau", Victorian Poetry, 25 (1987), hereafter Fish, 27-43 (p. 28). 23 Chesterton, p. 122. 24 Louis Napoleon's title was based on the argument that by his coup d'etat he had prevented a new reign of terror and social disorder. This will be discussed in detail in Chapter S. 25 Chesterton, p. 121.

13

But what did I see, you will ask, in the course of my long pilgrimage through Paris of the popular sympathy for the Emperor's death? Nothing-absolutely nothing. Not a tradesman-so far as I saw-not one tradesman, in the brilliant way from the Bastille to the Madeleine, stopped his business, or even half-closed his shutters, in token of respect to the dead, discrowned ruler from whose hand he had

sought decorations, and by whose patronage he had lived. 26

This attitude of dismissal combined with and enhanced an already prevalent view that

certain topics were not proper material for poetry. After reading Dramatis Personae,

Ruskin had written to Browning:

I was provoked by that poem of yours on table rapping-for this reason. If it be jugglery-one does not write poems about jugglers- you might as well have written against Morrison's Pills... Of course it is very disgusting. Nothing can be more disgusting than having to go to a water closet-but one does not write poems on the nastiness of corporeal dejection [sic]. 27

This view of the need for propriety in poetry was shared by the president of the

Browning Society who, unlike Ruskin, did not admire Louis Napoleon. During a

discussion following the reading of a paper on Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Furnivall

vehemently expressed his dislike of the poem and subject. He felt subjects like Sludge

and Louis Napoleon were a waste of Browning's talent. 28

In practice such dismissive attitudes have resulted in a sort of criticism in which the

poem's difficulty is mentioned followed by inaccurate and flippant commentary. With

the passage of time, the notion of blame based on personal and political feelings has

become insignificant, but the habit of denigration has remained. The difference is that

the attitude reserved for the poem's protagonist has now been transferred onto the

poem's inherent difficulties. Augustine Birrell (in this one instance defending the

poem) had started the trend of flippant inaccuracy in 1884:

u' Athenaeum, 18 January 1873, p. 83. Daily Telegraph, 17 January 1873, p. 5. 27 28 January 1865, David J. DeLaura, "Ruskin and the Brownings: Twenty-Five Unpublished Letters", Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 54.2 (Spring 1972), 314-56 (pp. 347-48). 78 Broaming Society Papers, 2 (1885-90), pp. 160-61. Joseph King, in his paper ("On Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau") to the Society, described Louis Napoleon as "a fellow creature, whose history, acts, words, opinions, and whose very name are... incentives to our hatred and contempt", pp. 361-62.

14

"Prince Hohenstiel" something or another is a very difficult poem, not only to pronounce but to read; but if a poet chooses as his subject Napoleon III. - in whom the cad, the coward, the idealist, and the sensualist were inextricably mixed-and purports to make him unburden himself over a bottle of Gladstone claret in a tavern in Leicester Square, you cannot expect that the product should belong to the same class of poetry as Mr. Coventry Patmore's admirable "Angel in the House".

There is no claret or tavern in the poem. Nineteenth-century mannerisms, however,

lose their charm a century later. According to a recent Browning handbook, no doubt a

product of the Augustine Birrell school of criticism, the poem features a "demagogue

who uses his rhetorical charm in an attempt to seduce his young lady auditor". 29

Seduction is the last thing on the Prince's mind. The writer can be forgiven when one

sees famous Browning experts like William Irving and Park Honan describe the poem

and its manner of creation as "mechanical", and chuckle at how "the fictitious prince

soon annihilates the table, room, and the young prostitute herself with heavy cigar

smoke and yet heavier rhetoric". "Annihilates" seems almost personal, and "light"

rhetoric would perhaps be inappropriate in a politician who is attempting to convince

and justify. Another offended critic is Lee Erickson, shocked by the "unending

blandness and abstract banality of the Prince's apology" 30 He quotes forty-seven lines

(ironically, the heart-felt and rather poetic U. 653-700) to show "the horrifying prolixity"

of the poem. Even if the apology were "banal", perhaps the dramatic situation -a lone

man, having a crisis of conscience, talking to himself -explains, to some extent, the

alleged lack of a clear and orderly exposition. And surely lengthy tediousness should

be seen, in this dramatic work, as the Prince's characteristic not the poem's.

Critics of the poem also tend to claim Browning's own authority to justify their

negative view. Clyde Ryals, for example, believes "the disappointment the Prince

expresses was doubtless shared by his creator"; and that "Browning's enthusiasm for

the poem flagged with its completion" 31 The view of Browning's apparent change of

29 Augustine Birrell, Obiter Dicta (Elliot Stock, 1884), p. 85. Joseph Bristow, Robert Browning (Harvester, 1991), p. 130. 30 William Irving and Park Honan, The Book, the Ring, and the Poet (Bodley Head, 1975), hereafter Irving and Honan, p. 461. Lee Erickson, Robert Browning: His Poetry and His Audiences (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984), pp. 245-46. 31 Clyde de L. Ryals, Browning's Later Poetry, 1871-1889 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1875), hereafter Ryals, p. 56.

15

heart towards the poem is solely based on a letter he sent to Edith Story (along with the

poem) a week after publication:

I write to warn you that I expect you not to care three straws for what, in the nature of things, is uninteresting enough, even compared with other poems of mine which you have been only too good to. What poetry can be in a sort of political satire, made the milder because of the present fortunes of the subject? So, all you are to understand by the gift of the thing is that, for want of better, it is my best at the present 32

This is the only instance where Browning belittles the poem, and yet it has served as

a major boost to validate negative criticism. Edith Story was the daughter of the

Brownings' intimate friends, the Storys. Edith was four years older than Pen, and

Browning had known her since she was a little girl in Italy. The view that Browning

changed his opinion about the poem loses validity when one examines Edith Story's

tastes and level of critical judgement. She was an admirer of the Emperor. ("Oh

Napoleon! ", Browning had once asked her, "Do we really differ so thoroughly about

him, after all? "33) It is also reasonable to assume, from the tone of the passage and the

many excuses and qualifications that Browning makes, that he believed the poem was

too difficult for her. 34 He did not "expect" her to like or understand the poem, and was

proved right from her comments after reading the poem. Browning replied kindly that

"when you have read more, you will find... "35 If Browning's apparently dismissive

comments on the poem had been to Julia Wedgwood, for example, with whom Browning had earlier discussed his work and intentions seriously, they would deserve

more attention.

Another reason for the poem's neglect has been its unusual form. The imaginary

auditor has caused problems-one reviewer did not even realize there is no real interlocutor. 6 For modem critics the insistence has been on seeing the poem as a dramatic monologue and therefore applying the same criteria to it. The poem is not a

32 20 December 1871, American Friends, p. 166. 33 5 September 1863, American Friends, p. 129. 34 Compare with the tone he takes on the same subject with Isa Blagden: "I am helpless against all sympathies I have to hurt, when once I begin quill-driving. I daresay I shall 'rile' many besides, or more than you. Can't help..

. and don't care", 8 November 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 369. 35 1 January 1872, American Friends, p. 167. 36 J. S. Sewall, "Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society", New Englander, 33 (1874), 493- 505 (p. 503).

16

dramatic monologue because there is no interlocutor; it is a soliloquy containing "dialogue" and taking place in real time. As such it is the most theatrical of Browning's

poems; it does not, as it has been recently suggested, "signal a decline in Browning's

dramatic power" 37 The misreading of the formal framework of the poem has led critics

to conclude that the poem is a failure "because no outline of character emerges from the

intricacy of the argument, there is no one to sympathize with and we are therefore not

convinced even though the arguments are every bit as good as in the successful

poems" 38 Since in Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau there is no real person to argue against

and interact with, the outline of character will not emerge primarily from "the intricacy

of the argument". Even though the poem takes place in real time, the Prince's speech

lacks the spontaneity, the sense of improvisation, which is characteristic of a real

encounter and dialogue. In Browning's dramatic monologues, the knowledge that the

speaker has not prepared his argument in advance (or, if aware of the meeting

beforehand, at least, could not have anticipated everything that might emerge during

such an encounter) is the basis and justification for the truth of the outline of character

which will emerge from the arguments -the inadvertent comments which lay open flaws, talents, prejudices. In Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau the speaker makes all the

rules; he decides the time, place, and object of the encounter; he chooses the argument. Given the artificiality of the situation, one has to look elsewhere for "outline of

character". Insights into the character of the Prince will emerge from the clues derived

from the analysis of the setting that he has decided upon in which to act out for himself

his pretend dramatic monologue - the emphasis shifts from the intricacy of the

argument to the subject, nature, and choice of the argument itself.

There is a third reason for the poem's later unpopularity. Unlike "Blougram" or "Sludge", the poem depends on the association between the speaker and his historical

counterpart. There is very little in the poem that does not allude to the writings,

speeches, and life of Louis Napoleon, and much of the poem's drama emerges through

that comparison. The connection is evident and made immediately: "Saviour of Society" (title), "crowned the edifice" (motto), and "Sphynx" [8] could only refer to

Louis Napoleon, and nothing throughout the poem suggested otherwise. While the

poem is certainly a vehicle for Browning to express his views on politics, the connection between the Prince and Louis Napoleon is so specific, so prevalent, that trying to

37 Fish, p. 41.

17

maintain the illusion is not worthwhile. The thin disguise is to allow for the dramatic

setting, for Louis Napoleon to try out his "reverie" [2137] and for Browning to

dramatically interpret a real-life figure. Browning, in his letters, always referred to the

speaker as the Emperor, and called the poem "a sort of political satire", by which he

meant an apology which contained satirical elements 39 He warned Isa Blagden with

good-natured malice (she admired the Emperor), "Won't you just dislike it! "40 By and

at the end of the poem it would have been pointless to pretend that the speaker was

other than Louis Napoleon. For the modem reader much of the pleasure of the poem is

lost without its topical context. The Emperor was the leading personality in Europe and

his decisions and actions were closely observed by anyone concerned with issues like

revolution in France, invasion of Britain, European war and balance of power, colonial

expansion, the fate of the Pope, the fate of Italy. Louis Napoleon's actions, policies,

movements, and behaviour were reported in great detail and would have been familiar

to all readers of Browning's poem.

Therefore it should come as no surprise that (for once) there were no charges of

obscurity directed against Browning. One reviewer confidently wrote that no one "can

have any doubt of the meaning of a line of the poem" 41 Some of the points of the poem

are made through specific allusions, or through the contrast between the historical

event and the version given by the Prince. Knowledge of the presence of a copy of the

Laocoön in the building of the Legislative Assembly (marking the members as the

ignorant "crowd" of 1.1189) would be an interesting bonus, but it is necessary to know,

when reading the last line of the poem, of the extreme anti-Prussian sentiment in France

in 1870 and the many visible signs of the precarious state of the goverrunent 42 The

dictum, "a free church in a free state" was the famous battle-cry of Cavour. 43 The

38 Robert Langbaum, The Poetry of Experience (Chatto & Windus, 1957), hereafter Langbaum, p. 86. 39 To Edith Story, 20 December 1871, American Friends, p. 166. 40 8 November 1971, Dearest Isa, p. 369. 41 Scotsman, 21 December 1871, p. 6. 42 Adolphe Joanne, Paris Illustre (Paris: Hachette, 1870), p. 494: "Le salon de la Paix, qui precede la salle des seances, contient une copie du Laocoon et une Minerve en bronze. " The oldest surviving version of the Laocoön was in the Vatican Museum and Louis Napoleon would have had seen it more than forty years before the time of the monologue. The Prince compares himself to a work described by Michelangelo as "the wonder of art" and by Pliny as "superior to all others both in painting and statuary", Octavian Blewitt, A Hand-book for Travellers in Central Italy and Rome (John Murray, 1850), p. 469. 43 11 Conte di Cavour in Parlamento, ed. by I. Artom and A. Blanc (Firenze: Barb6ra, 1868), pp. 665- 66. The liberal-catholic Montalembert felt that Cavour was interfering in his area of expertise and said so in Deuxilme lettre d M. le comte de Cavour (Paris: Lecoffre, 1861), p. 5.

18

reader would have wondered if Louis Napoleon had said it first, or was the Prince

casually appropriating the distinction. Seeing it spoken by Sagacity [1581] the reader

would have been intrigued by the Prince's treatment of the situation in which the

frustrated Emperor, while agreeing with Cavour that the temporal power of the Pope

should come to an end, was forced to protect him with French troops - and was now

attempting to justify his action.

The poem's dependency on historical knowledge has been criticized:

Reading the poem for such historical commentary is interesting, at least for the devotee of nineteenth-century French politics. But doing so unjustly limits the scope of the poem and only aggravates its difficulty, as one turns to extrapoetic sources to sort out the import of Hohenstiel's rhetoric 44

Or Philip Drew: "In a sense this is a weakness in the poem, since it depends for its full

meaning on something outside itself. "45 If this were a valid objection, it would affect

many of Browning's poems that depend on the reader's knowledge of Classical,

Renaissance, religious, or art history. In the case of Aristophanes' Apology, for example,

the Athenaeum suggested that one must be "soaked and steeped in the comedies" to

appreciate and enjoy the poem "as it deserves"; furthermore, in parts it would be

"unintelligible to any one who does not know Aristophanes almost by heart". 46 Drew,

himself, is aware that the criticism is impractical and sensibly concludes:

Political poetry has the quality of being especially relevant to one particular situation. This is its strength and its weakness. It seems to me that the only thing to do is to recognize this and, if we want to try to understand the poem, to equip ourselves with the necessary historical knowledge.

Temporal Setting

One aspect of the poem which has been a source of much contention has been the

question of the date of the Prince's "reverie" -with good reason. The poem supports

44 Fish, p. 27. 45 The Poetry of Browning (Methuen, 1970), hereafter Drew, p. 299. 46 17 April 1875, p. 513.

19

three different dates: 1860,1868, and 1870.47 Obviously it is very important to know at

which point in his career Louis Napoleon is evaluating his life. The reader in 1871

(when the poem was published) would make judgment based on how the Emperor has

applied the lessons learned from his soliloquy. Given his ignominious fall, the later the

setting of the poem, the less time the Emperor has had to implement changes, and,

hence, the less the blame. Louis Napoleon was born in 1808 and became president in

1848. Therefore, "a man of sixty" [21] and the "twenty years" in power [474,647,1490,

1589,1594,2145] suggest the year 1868. Another view is to put the date around the time

of the annexation of Savoy and Nice. "Upon this 'sixty, Anno Domini" [511] is clear

enough, and, in the course of the poem, the Prince does not refer to any events after

1860. The one exception, however, can be the origin of the "grey oblong" with its "grim

seal" [2143] and the identity of "My Cousin-Duke" [2141]. If it refers to the Ems

telegram (telegram slips are oblong in shape), written by King William I of Prussia, it

marks the date as 1870. After Prussia had withdrawn its candidate for the Spanish

throne, France demanded that the King promise that the Prussian royal family would

never again provide a candidate for the Spanish throne. Understandably, the King

politely refused to promise anything in perpetuity. He duly informed his Chancellor of

the outcome. Bismarck edited the King's telegram in a manner that made it sound brusque and insulting to the French, whose honour was duly outraged. The strong

reaction against the insulting telegram in France was the catalyst for the war. In this

view, at the end of the poem the Prince is debating with himself whether or not to send his reply, which would decide the question of war or peace. In this way, "Cousin

Duke" is a disguise like Hohenstiel-Schwangau, "hard head" [2141] is a reference both

to the Germanic helmets and the King's stubbornness in not making the desired

promise, and the "grim" seal (the sight of which "Set these fancies floating" [2144]) is

something Teutonic. War was declared (one day after the telegram reached France) in

July 1870, which would also explain, "I could then, last July, bid courier take / Message

for me" [137-8].

Another notable July is that of 1859 when Louis Napoleon instigated the peace with Austria at Villafranca. Dating the reverie in 1860, however, is dramatically and

47 For 1868 see The Complete Works of Robert Browning, ed. by Charlotte Porter and Helen A. Clarke, 12 vols (New York: Crowell, 1898), hereafter Florentine, IX, p. 287, n. 2150. For 1860 see Penguin, I, p. 1178, n. 21 and p. 1184, it 2150; and Leo A. Hetzler, "The Case of Prince Hohenstiel- Schwangau: Browning and Napoleon III", Victorian Poetry, 15 (1977), hereafter Hetzler, 335-350 (p. 349). For 1870 see Drew, p. 268.

20

historically unsound. First, the poem's audience in 1871, having witnessed the horrible

events of the past year in France, would have been less interested in what the Emperor

was thinking a decade before. Second, a major crisis is needed to account for such soul-

searching-and the possibility of exile. There is no momentous event around 1860

except for the war with Austria which took place before Louis Napoleon had asked for

Savoy and Nice. But if the Prince, back in the Residenz, is pretending that he has

started a war, lost, and hence is in exile (and has been for eight years to make him sixty),

then how could he have annexed Savoy and Nice, an action which is mentioned in the

poem? The annexation implies a victorious campaign, and there cannot be both victory

and exile. If the reverie takes place after the war, there is no possibility of exile because

in 1860 Louis Napoleon was at the height of his power and feared by all of Europe. 48

Only a major defeat would have made loss of power and his presence in Leicester

Square believable, and there is no reason to invent an imaginary event.

Penguin suggests that the telegram is from Louis Napoleon's cousin, Prince

Napoleon (Plon-Plon), who was married to Victor Emmanuel's daughter, 49 demanding

the continuation of the war in Italy (after the annexation). Further fighting with Austria

was so completely at odds with Louis Napoleon's policies that it is inconceivable that

such a message from Prince Napoleon would have caused the Prince's reverie. Not

only was Louis Napoleon against the idea of a united Italian peninsula, he had also just

signed a treaty of peace with Austria. More importantly, the suggestion would

completely remove the sense and the dramatic irony (and the character revealment of

the gambling adventurer) of the last two lines of the poem. It is not apparent whether

the Prince's letter is in favour or against the continuation of war in northern Italy. Since

there was no war in 1860 the content of the Prince's letter does not really matter: the

48 On 1 June 1860 Clarendon had written privately to Cowley, the ambassador in Paris, that the annexation of Savoy and Nice had terrified Palmerston: "his rage now knows no bounds at finding that Louis Napoleon is a more artful dodger than himself, and that an irresponsible gentleman with five hundred thousand bayonets at his disposal is not to be scared from his purpose by a sour despatch or a House of Commons barking peacefully. " Palmerston was not alone in believing that Louis Napoleon intended to follow in his uncle's footsteps and settle old scores; that having defeated Russia and Austria, he would now attack weak Prussia and soon France would be master of the continent again. (Cowley respectfully had replied that this was a ridiculous notion since Louis Napoleon had no funds available, and the state of the army was very poor. They had barely avoided defeat by Austria, and no one knew it better than the Emperor. ) The Paris Embassy During the Second Empire: Selections from the Papers of Henry R. C. Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, Ambassador at Paris, 1852-1867, ed. by Frederick A. Wellesley (Butterworth, 1928), hereafter Cowley, p. 206, pp. 233-35. 49 "The great marriage in Piedmont" EBB called it. 10 February 1859, Huxley, p. 306.

21

letter was either against war and was sent, or it was in favour and was not sent.

Subsequently the motto's allusion to the Franco-Prussian war, "Alack, with ills I

crowned the edifice", becomes anachronistic. But if the date is 1870, and the poem has

ended with "The letter goes! Or stays? ", then the reader knows that the letter was a

declaration of war, and that the Prince, once again, changed his mind: the letter went.

(On the day war was declared Browning told Isa Blagden, "the way of the declaration

has been cynical and revolts everybody. "50) Like Penguin, Leo Hetzler puts the date at

1860 and reads the "Cousin-duke" as Louis Napoleon's cousin, but suggests and the

letter related not to war, but to the annexation negotiations which Prince Napoleon was

handling. In either case Louis Napoleon would not use "grim" to describe a family seal.

This and the final reminder at the end, "Twenty years are good gain", make any notions

of 1860 untenable.

If one ignores the issue of the historical identity of the Cousin-Duke and the

possible content of the letter, the only argument in favour of 1860 is that the poem-

with the exception of the motto -does not refer to any historical events subsequent to

1860. (Since Browning had reported over eighteen-hundred new lines in 1871, the

actual date of composition is not an issue 51) The justification for the historical plot of

the poem-the reason it stops where it does-is a mixture of three factors.

Dramatically, the Prince relating his career chronologically, is interrupted by the chimes

of the clock ("five-yes, five the pendule warns! " [2073]) before he can proceed further.

(The practical issue of the length of the poem also should not be overlooked. There is

good-humoured apology for the length implied in "A nod / Out-Homering Homer! "

[2080-81]. ) Another factor is biographical: the events the Prince chooses to discuss

reflect those issues which interested Browning. So French Imperialism, Louis

Napoleons interest in Polish and Hungarian autonomy, the Mexican expedition, the

war between Prussia and Austria, are ignored in favour of the fall of the Second

Republic, Louis Napoleon's dynastic ambitions, and anything related to Italy. The

exception is the Crimean war. The war (1854-56) secured British alliance for France,

effectively neutralized Russia as a European force, raised Cavour's voice in European

politics, and established Louis Napoleon as the arbiter of Europe. It was the high point

of Louis Napoleon's political career. Mention of the war in the poem would have

appeared between the account of the coup d'6tat and the Italian campaign. Browning

50 19 July 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 340.

22

was present in Paris during the peace conference and certainly had been very concerned throughout the war. He was, in fact "frantic about the Crimea" and very angry at Aberdeen's passive leadership and the lack of proper planning and preparation which

marked the essence of the British campaign. The patriotic Browning shared the general feeling that Britain was "disgraced in the face of Europe", and was of the opinion that

the ministry, at the least, should "be torn to pieces in the streets, from limb to limb" 52

A third explanation, which accounts for both the Crimean and post-1860 omissions, is thematic. The main purpose of the Prince's apology is the justification of motives and

actions. Crimea was Louis Napoleon's only completely successful enterprise in

European politics. It effectively re-established France (weakened after the Congress of Vienna) as the most powerful European nation by weakening both Russia and British/Austrian alliance in France's favour. The Prince does not need to defend

Crimea. His conduct before and during the war had been wiser and more decisive than

the British. EBB wrote that the "Aberdeen-stone round the neck of Louis Napoleon has

been a desperate draw back" 53 By contrast, Louis Napoleon's career after 1860 could hardly be defended. The decade following the Italian campaign (which lost him British

trust and support) marked a steady decline in his power and control in France, and

much misjudgment, humiliation, and loss of prestige in foreign affairs. The Prince is

most likely relieved to stop his monologue where he does.

Putting the date at 1868 is a better alternative to 1860 only in the sense that it

satisfies the references to "twenty years". M The drama of the ending would still be lost,

since nothing had happened in 1868 that would account for the telegram and/or would

warrant a reverie of such intensity. 55 Therefore 1870 is the best choice. To account for

511 October 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 367. 52 EBB to Sarianna, 12 June 1855, Kenyon, II, p. 203. To her own sister, Henrietta, EBB had reported: "Robert has been frantic about the Crimea. The accounts turn one sick... A little humiliation will teach us that we are not perfect, and that our administration is one of the most corrupt in Europe. How well and magnanimously the French have behaved! Their newspapers touch most delicately and forbearingly on our errors in organization, covering us with admiration upon our other points", 12 February 1855, Huxley, p. 213. Seven years later, in "Apparent Failure", Browning recalled walking along the Seine thinking "of the Congress, Gortschakoff, / Cavour's appeal and Buol's replies" [7-8]. 53 7 October 1853, George Barrett, p. 203. 54 Penguin (I, p. 1178, n. 2) suggests that the inconsistency between the dates might be due to carelessness and/or the fusing of what Browning had written in 1871 with the "rough sketch" (Dearest Isa, p. 371) of 1860. 55 Florentine (DC, pp. 287-88, n. 2150) suggests that the letter has to do with Prince Napoleon's mission to secure allies in case of war with Prussia: "The letter referred to may be such a one as

23

the minor discrepancy of two years ("a man of sixty"), one can argue that it is natural

and common to round off a few years in one's age, especially in female company, and instead of sixty-two, to settle for "a man of sixty". The number of years in power depends on whether they are measured from the presidency of 1848 (when he shared

power with the Assembly), the coup d'@tat of 1851, or the proclamation of the Second

Empire the following year. It is simpler just to round it off to twenty years. 1870 not only draws the fullest dramatic effect from the ending of the poem, it is

clearly implied at the very beginning in the motto. The reader would have immediately

associated "Alack, with ills I crowned the edifice" with the war and the Emperor's

surrender at Sedan. The war itself came as no surprise, but most people were shocked

at the unbelievable incompetence and swift capitulation of the French army, especially

those who had expected a repeat of the Italian campaign. The Christian World Magazine

gives a fair idea of the sense of shock that the "crowning" produced:

It is difficult now to understand that at that time the general expectation was that France would achieve some success, and, perhaps after a brief but brilliant campaign, conclude, as her wont was, a peace, which would enable her to lay down her arms with some increase of military prestige... It is not necessary to tell how effectively all these expectations were disposed of... ultimately by the crowning disaster of Sedan. 56

Browning recreates the sense of shock by catching the Emperor as he is about to risk

all -the final, and brutal, proof of his failure to exonerate himself. Moral awareness is

not followed by personal application. Setting the poem in 1870 gives the small

the Emperor would be likely to write his cousin upon the war and in announcement and explanation of the policy to be adopted. " This view is improbable. The only period of crisis around 1868 had been the spring of the previous year when France was reacting badly to the humiliation of being unable to annex the left bank of the Rhine, or Luxemburg, or Belgium. Bismarck had half-heartedly promised Louis Napoleon some territory in order to secure France's neutrality during the Prussian Austrian war of 1866. In the spring, the French army of Mexico had returned to France and the only talk in Paris was of war with Prussia. See Felix M. Whitehurst, Court and Social Lifte in France Under Napoleon the Third, 2 voll (Tinsley Brothers, 1873), hereafter Whitehurst, I, pp. 276-77. Prince Napoleon's mission was completely unsuccessful, since Louis Napoleon had managed to alienate all the Great Powers. Partly in response to failed diplomacy, and partly to diffuse the tension (which only postponed the crisis over the rivalry between France and Prussia much to France's disadvantage), 1867 saw the grandest Universal Exhibition yet in Paris to which all the European leaders were invited to celebrate peace and European tranquillity. However, the Emperor pointed out that "des points noirs sont venus assombrir notre horizon" (Speech at Lille, 27 August 1867, Oeuvres, V, p. 295). See Adrien Marx, Les Souverains a Paris (Paris: Dentu, 1868), p. xvii. Florentine's suggestion robs the letter of any dramatic significance. 56 7(1871), p. 37.

24

consolation that he had hours and not years to revise his ways. If the Prince were

capable, or possessed the integrity, of applying the lessons of his reverie to his future

conduct, he would not have fallen. For Browning that flaw in character is the real

tragedy of the Prince.

Louis Napoleon

Louis Napoleons life reads like a nineteenth-century novel, with chapter headings

like exile, adventure, imprisonment, war, subversion, conspiracy, politics, revolution.

His fall in old age was as low as the height into which he was born. A son of

Napoleons brother, Louis, King of Holland, he was seven when his uncle's army was

destroyed at Waterloo. Third in line of succession to the most powerful throne in

Europe, he was to spend the next thirty-three years -covering the Bourbon Restoration

and the July Monarchy in France - in exile. He lived in Switzerland and Southern

Germany, and frequently travelled to Italy and England. His first political act occurred

in 1830-31, when with youthful exuberance, he and his brother joined the Italian

patriots fighting against Papal and Austrian rule. His brother died from disease and he

only managed to escape capture through the heroic effort of his mother. With the death

of his brother and that of Napoleon's son (in 1832), Louis Napoleon became the

Bonaparte candidate for the French throne. He took his responsibility seriously and

attempted to revive the Napoleonic myth with words and deeds. He used every

opportunity, in articles, letters, and social conversation to advertise himself and his

claim. In his writings he constantly defended Napoleon and set down Bonapartism as a

real and valid political ideology, claiming that it was the only possible hope of stability

and progress for France. To show his own worthiness, he also wrote pamphlets and

books on political and military history, commerce, industry, and social issues. He made

two attempts, at Strasbourg (1836) and Boulogne (1840), to cause an insurrection in

France. Both times he failed to win over the local garrison and was immediately

captured. "All Europe (France included) cracked one huge joke on the Invasion of

Boulogne. "57 Because of these failures he was viewed by many as a fool and a

buffoon-a reputation which was very useful in masking his ambitions when he

returned to France in 1848. For his first attempt he was banished to America in 1836; for

the second, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the fortress of Ham. The Times

reported, with much shaking of the head, that "This morning this wild adventurer was

25

quietly removed from the Castle in the upper town. It is supposed his destination is

Ham. "58 He escaped six years later and spent the final two years of his exile in

England.

The two failed attempts were proof enough that a different approach was needed.

The revolution of February 1848 provided Louis Napoleon with a suitable opportunity

to employ a new strategy.

Despite his background, ß I-7 `- 4r

ý1 he brilliantly managed to

ý--ý p is }l '' convince enough people

of his devotion to the new

_.., -d-- -- ,.: ý.: -- -- -.. I ß, 4r °r Republic. By the end of

the year he was elected

president with over 70% Zv.

of the votes. It could be

said that he was the right

name at the right place at

the right time. The voters

had been terrified of the

political left's new social ýr

`ý ýt, ýJ l NýtJlE08 1iý r. SgLS-92 2

c rjý iI theories (like abolition of 1.3^7977 .: fl

property) and their

commitment to exporting

the revolution. Louis

Napoleon, himself, while THE PRESIDENT'S PROGRESS;

n*_ the Wife and Adventures of Prince Lonie. Nanoleon. carefully avoiding any " +ý

show of cunning and

ambition, had made full

use of the power of his name and the promise of stability and glory which it

commanded for most of France.

57 "Ideas and Opinions of Napoleonism", TEM, 19 (1852), 287-93 (p. 292). 58 10 August 1840, p. 5. See Thackeray's excellent essay on Louis Napoleon, his writings, and Bonapartism entitled, "Napoleon and His System" (1839) in The Paris Sketch Book, 2 vols (John Macrone, 1840), 1, pp. 226-53.

Punch, December 1848.

26

NAPOLEON III. from POPULAR CARICATURES.

(1848. ]

"ADVANCING. "

The Loth December was fixed for the election of a new President, tobe appointed according to the will of the people. The most influential opponents of the candi- dature of the Prince (as illustrated above by the satirist) were General Cavaignac, tamartine, and Ledru Rollin, -names which subsequent history has treated with

t. The friends of the Prince were most energetic in their canvass. Their great in-

hence was with the peasantry, a body most easily dazzled with Napoleonic glitter. This section has uniform! followed and confirmed the acts of Louis Napoleon both is Prince President and Emperor, and by their number and their pliability have in he speciotts scheme of universal suffrage utterly negatived the verdict of the edu- ated section of the community.

The caricaturists understood and commented on this stronghold of the Prince. One of the canvassers accosts a "clod " at his oxens' head. "fiere is your bre et as labourer to the Court. Of course you are for Napoleon? "

He presents a scroll (the address), which the ploughman cannot read. "Ilis vote is a certainty, " remarks the canvasser, perfectly satisfied.

19

Throughout the three years of his presidency the politically inexperienced Louis

Napoleon slowly strengthened his position by neutralizing his political enemies at

every opportunity and establishing men loyal to him in positions of power. Many

politicians were realizing the extent of the president's ambition, but the very disunited

Assembly could not effectively oppose the efficiency of a single unit with a fixed

purpose. On 2 December 1851 Louis Napoleon moved troops into Paris and, in a matter

of days, became the master of France. While republicans and liberals condemned the

coup d'etat, most of the population were gladly anticipating a period of peace and

prosperity. They showed their willingness to pay for it with their freedom when they

overwhelmingly approved Louis Napoleon's action. They confirmed their support in

PRINCIPLES PROFESSED BY LOUIS NAPOLEON.

27

another plebiscite the following year when they voted in the Second Empire. It is

important when judging the Second Empire to be aware of the degree of collusion

between the ruler and the ruled. Emile Zola 's description is only slightly exaggerated:

The Empire had just been proclaimed... Silence reigned both at the tribune and in the press. Society, saved once more, was congratulating itself and indolently resting, now that a strong government was protecting it and relieving it even of the trouble of thinking and attending to its own business. The great preoccupation of society was to know in what way it should kill time... Paris was dining and anticipating no end of pleasure at dessert. Politics produced a universal scare, like some dangerous drug. The wearied minds turned to pleasure and money-making. 59

The history of the Second Empire is best divided into its two decades. The 1850s

were the good years. Louis Napoleon gave France stability and order through a

centralized bureaucracy, an efficient secret police, and a strict control of the press. For

the second time France became the leading nation in Europe under a dictatorship based

on universal suffrage-a system whose survival depended on the person of the

Emperor and attention to the state of public opinion. But Louis Napoleon was in good

health, Europe was experiencing economic prosperity, the Imperial government's

domestic programs were popular and its foreign policy was successful.

The next decade saw the failure of many of Louis Napoleon's domestic reforms, a

series of miscalculations and mistakes in his foreign policy, and a rapid deterioration of

his health due to a very painful, and eventually fatal, bladder stone (not an unusual

condition, Browning's Grammarian was similarly afflicted) . 60 Various factors were

responsible for his domestic troubles. Politically, since the legitimacy of his rule was

based on suffrage, his dependency on public opinion dictated flexible and middle-of-

the-way policies. In his effort not to alienate any one faction completely, he was forced

to alter his course of action periodically, and to balance freedoms in one area with

restrictions in another-with the result that nobody was pleased. His liberal

concessions in politics, on the press, on labour laws, were granted with many

conditions, and went unappreciated, increased the general dissatisfaction and,

ironically, provided legal methods for greater criticism of the regime. Socially, the

59 The Rush For the Spoils [La Curree] (Vizetelly, 1886), p. 57. First published in 1871. 60 See Sir D'Arcy Power, "Lithotrity: The Case of the Emperor Napoleon III", Birtish Journal of Surgery, 19.73 (July 1931), 1-7.

28

benefits of his free-trade policy were not materializing (France went back to

protectionism immediately after the fall of the Empire). Many of the regime's domestic

programmes in industry, agriculture, construction were flawed in that they lacked a

proper framework of planning, organization, and development. Many were based on

the Emperor's whim. ("A bad system of government, you will say", wrote EBB to her

brother, "& I agree with you entirely. ") More harmful in the long run, was the policy of

providing finance by private credit organizations set up for that purpose (Credit Mobilier

for the railway industry, Credit Lyonnais for agriculture, Credit Foncier for construction,

etc) 61 The slowing of the economy led to inflation, bankruptcies, and unemployment.

For all the Imperial claims of stability and prosperity, by 1870 the division between the

rich and the poor had increased; the rich lived in the beautiful city centres and the poor

in suburban ghettos. The extensive building programmes had led to corruption and

exorbitant rise in rents. Claims that the increase in workers' wages was proof of their

improved conditions became meaningless since the increase could not compete with the

cost of living. The hatred shown and the atrocities perpetrated during the suppression

of the Commune in 1871 were proof of the ineffectiveness of Louis Napoleon's social

programmes. On the international scene, Louis Napoleon had strengthened his position and

prestige through the alliance with Britain and the victorious war in the Crimea. More

military glory was gained in 1859 when France went to the aid of its new ally, the

Kingdom of Sardinia, against Austria. But in retrospect, the Italian campaign was the

beginning of Louis Napoleon's fall. He had promised to selflessly free Italy from the

Alps to the Adriatic, but only delivered Lombardy- Austria kept Venetia. The

premature armistice of Villafranca was typical of the Emperor's vacillating

methodology. The continuation of the war meant a long, expensive and bloody

campaign, soon to be very unpopular with the French who would have had to pay for

it, and objectionable to the Great Powers who would not have accepted a too-great

strengthening of France at Austria's expense. The increasing momentum for unification in Italy was becoming a danger to the temporal power of the Pope, the loss of which

would anger Catholic feelings in France and put the French troops protecting the Pope

in an awkward position. By fighting the war in the first place Louis Napoleon had

angered the Pope, who viewed Austria as a protector, and the Great Powers, who did

6128 February 1852, George Barrett, p. 173. Frederick A. Simpson, Louis Napoleon and the Recovery of France (Longmans, Green, 1923), pp. 181-184.

29

not wish further change (after Crimea) in the European balance of power. The armistice

not only did not lessen in any way Austria's humiliation, it lost Louis Napoleon the

gratitude of the Italians, who felt betrayed. The annexation of Savoy and Nice, the

following year, removed even the moral authority Louis Napoleon could have claimed

for his action. Even though every one agreed that without France Italian unification

would not have happened, Louis Napoleon's behaviour made gratitude difficult.

Poor judgement continued for the rest of the decade. Louis Napoleon's belief in a

Southern victory in the American civil war was one of the reasons behind a six year

effort to set up a conservative empire in Mexico 62 The futile and very expensive

expedition ended in ignominy when President Grant ordered the French to leave and

Emperor Maximilian was captured and shot by Mexican republicans in June 1867. Five

months later Italy was insulted when, at the battle of Mentana, French troops defeated

and wounded Garibaldi who was attempting to occupy Rome. Louis Napoleon's public

sympathy for the Polish insurrection of 1863 removed any remaining possibility of

reconciliation with Russia (which he had prepared for by insisting on peace after the fall

of Sebastopol, much against the wishes of the British). The following year his refusal to

join Britain in preventing the German occupation of Schleswig and Holstein further

weakened the Anglo-French alliance already strained by the annexation of Savoy and

Nice. Louis Napoleon's reluctance was due to Bismarck's false promise of territorial

recompense-a trick Bismarck used again in 1866 to keep France from interfering in his

war with Austria. France was further humiliated in 1870 when Bismarck published his

secret treaty of 1866 with France which refuted the French protestations of

disinterestedness in territorial expansion. On the eve of the Franco-Prussian war Louis

Napoleon was a very sick and a very isolated ruler. Browning believed that "had he

kept his word to Italy.. . he would have had an Italian army helping him". 63

Browning

Browning had occasionally seen the Emperor in Paris, but there is no evidence that

the two ever met, despite Louis Napoleon's visits and residencies in England. The only

time they could have been in the same room together was on 30 July 1846 (two months

62 As a cotton manufacturing nation France preferred a Southern victory which would maintain the levels of cotton production. For the same reason, both Liberals and Conservatives in Britain also backed the South and The Times "took the lead among newspapers" in that support. Bourne, II, p. 262. 63 Dearest Isa, p. 348.

30

after the escape from Ham) at the salon of Mrs Milner-Gibson which was frequented by

political exiles, Louis Napoleon among them. Browning told EBB he met Monckton

Mimes there, but he does not mention seeing anyone interesting. "

During their married life (1846-61), living in Italy and travelling to France and England, the Brownings were geographically and socially in an excellent position to

indulge their interest in the political fate of Italy and France. Newspapers, personal

connections, Browning's hatred of despotism, and EBB's adoption of Louis Napoleon as

her "prot@g6"65 made them aware of every bit of knowledge, gossip, and rumour about

the Emperor. EBB often emphasized that their information was based "upon rather

good authority", and from persons "whose metier it is to know everything" 66 They

were eye-witnesses to the 1848 revolutions in Italy and the 1851 coup d'@tat. Their

summer sojourns in England in 1851 and 1852 allowed them to judge the English

reaction to the coup d'etat and the return of the Empire (EBB to Mary Russell Mitford:

"I find people talking about the 'facts in the Times' touching Louis Napoleon. Facts in

the Times! ") 67 They were in Paris during the Crimean peace talks in 1856 where

Browning dined in Cavour's company. 68 The residency of Browning's father and sister

in Paris (1852-66) and friendship with hostesses like Lady Elgin and Madame Mohl

provided a degree of familiarity with French news not readily available to a non-

resident 69 In Florence they could draw on the personal knowledge of Thomas Trollope

who was a great supporter of Italian freedom and whose house, Villino Trollop, was a

meeting place for Italian patriots and sympathizers 7° During the anxious months prior

to the war with Austria Browning was an active participant in the "noise & brilliancy"

of Roman social life, "taken to visiting cardinals & such corrupt practices", and sharing

the excitement of the moment. "If once a fortnight we have an evening together, we call

64 Correspondence, XIII, p. 211. 65 Kenyon, II, p. 182. 66 To Anna Jameson, 26 August 1859, Kenyon, II, p. 328; to Julia Martin, 25 November 1854 [Checklist, p. 368, n. 54: 1211, Kenyon, II, p. 181. 6710 July 1852, Mitford, III, p. 362. 68 EBB to Anna Jameson, 2 May 1856, Kenyon, II, p. 230: "When Monckton Milnes was in Paris he dined with him in company with Mignet, Cavour, George Sand, and an empty chair in which Lamartine was expected to sit" 69 Lady Elgin, wrote EBB, "has lived for years in Paris, occupying a noble apartment in the Faubourg St. Germain, and knowing the best of everybody". Madame Mohis salon was "one of the social features of Paris". George Barrett, p. 158 and p. 161, n. 10. 70 Thomas Adolphus Trollope (the novelist's brother) lived in Florence from 1843 to 1873 and would occasionally carry messages for Italian patriots, DNB, LVII, pp. 249-50.

31

it a holiday", complained his wife. n EBB often felt guilty at the amount of time

Browning spent taking care of her and was happy to report that "now he dines

somewhere out of friendship -now to meet somebody extraordinary". During the visit

of the young Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) to Rome, his minders deemed

Browning a good choice for the Prince's edification. The date of the summons,

however, was unfortunate, as EBB told her sister,

for Robert was engaged to dinner that very day at Mr. Cartwright's to meet Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, the Neapolitan ambassador, and the Piedmontese ambassador the Marquis d'Azelio -(quite a congress! )

and I didn't at all like his giving up Azelio, who is worth a hundred

royalties - (always excepting the Emperor Napoleon's).

Browning managed to attend both meetings and heeded his wife's warning not to make

a faux pas like saying, "Though I don't go as far in politics as my wife, yet I call myself a

republican" in front of the Prince. The evening was a success.

The prince did not talk much, but listened intelligently and asked several questions on Italian politics - to Robert's own great surprise and mine-(for he and I had only jested in supposing the subject possible) and he found himself talking quite naturally of the wrongs of Italy to an evidently sympathetic audience.

Reporting to Isa Blagden of the evening, she wrote: "I told Robert to set them all right

on Italian affairs ... the subject was permitted, admitted, encouraged, and Robert swears

that he talked on it higher than his breath. "72

Another expert on the Italian scene was the American representative at Turin,

William B. Kinney, who had retired to Florence and had become a good friend. The

elder and most respected statesman in Italy, Massimo d'Azelio had also discussed the

political situation with the Brownings on several occasions. EBB proudly informed his

brother,

Mr. Kinney told me he had pointed out to the King that passage in "Casa Guidi Windows" about his father Charles Albert, & that he was "much gratified. " "If you were to go to Turin" added Mr. Kenney, "he would give you a cordial reception. " What pleased me

7 115 February 1859, Dearest Isa, p. 35.10 February 1859, Huxley, p. 225. 72 4 March 1859, Huxley, pp. 310-11. Kenyon, II, p. 310.

32

more was another thing mentioned - that Azelio when prime minister, quoted the poem in the Piedmontese chamber 73

Browning's political connections provided him with authorities who could separate fact

from fiction and keep him abreast of current occurrences. Robert Lytton (Owen

Meredith), who for many years viewed Browning as master and mentor, was in the

diplomatic service. He served at Washington, Florence (1852-54), Paris (1854-56), The

Hague (1856-58), Vienna (1859-63), Belgrade, Copenhagen (1863-64), Athens, and

Lisbon. Given his devotion to the Brownings, it is unlikely that, short of betraying

official secrets, he would have withheld any interesting intelligence from them. 74

Browning also had his own sources in Italy. He wrote his sister from Rome:

I hear the prime of the news, knowing the really instructed people. I see Lady Williams and Odo Russell (our diplomatic agent) nearly everyday (dined with them on Friday) and have heard all sorts of various things from Ld. Stratford de Redcliffe - (dined with him on Wednesday after having had two hours' talk and more with him in the morning) 75

Stratford Canning, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, was one of the leading diplomats of the

day. He had been ambassador at Constantinople and had met with Louis Napoleon in

1853 in preparation for the Crimean War. Odo Russell was Lord John Russell's nephew

and a career diplomat. He had served in Vienna (1849), under Palmerston and

Granville (1850-52), as attache in Paris and Vienna (1852-53), and in Constantinople

under Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. From November 1858 to August 1871 he was based

in Rome (sharing rooms with William Cartwright) as the unofficial British

representative at the Vatican. On mission to Germany in 1870-71, he had impressed

Bismarck and (after a return to London in August) became ambassador to Germany in

October 1871. Lady William Russell was the daughter of Lord Hastings, wife of Lord

73 Kenyon, II, pp. 308-09; George Barrett, p. 197, n. 7, p. 189. 74 DNB, XX)QV, p. 387. See Letters from Owen Meredith to Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ed. by Aurelia B. Harlan and J. Lee Harlan, Jr (Waco: Baylor University, 1937), hereafter Owen Meredith, pp. 89-90, p. 107, pp. 164-68. 75 9-10 May 1859, New Letters, pp. 114-15 [Checklist, p. 277, n. 59: 115]. EBB wrote from Siena that "Mr. Russell spent two days with us on his way to resume office at Rome", sharing information gained from "a personal friend" of his "in whose bosom Louis Napoleon seems to pour the confidences of his heart about that'coquin de Cavour' who led him into the Italian war", to Henry F. Chorley, [c October] 1859 [Checklist, p. 286, n. 59: 1%], Kenyon, II, p. 334; and to Isa Blagden, [6- 7] September 1859 [Checklist, p. 253, n. 59: 183], Kenyon, II, p. 339.

33

George Russell (1790-1846), older brother of Lord John Russell, Odo's mother and the

family's matriarch-76 Browning's friendship with the Russells continued after his return to England as one sees in his letters to Isa Blagden. In 1862: "I was the other night at Lady W. R. 's who told me the talk of the town was a visit Panizzi had just paid to

Biarritz, whence he had returned persuaded that L. Napoleon meant the very best for

Italy and would do it the moment he could. " In 1863 he reports dining with Lady

Russell and Lady Palmerston. Three years later Lady Russell is still Browning's source

about events in Italy. He tells Isa: "If you go to Rome, don't forget me, pray. I am going

to dine presently with Lady W. R. who will tell me all the news. " 77 Browning knew

Palmerston ("personally pleasant he was"), but he was much closer to the more ethical John Russell and Gladstone. In 1867 he reports an entertaining evening with both men "and only one-other guest the two talked unreservedly, and very interesting it was". Two months after Louis Napoleon's arrival in England and three months before

Browning began the poem, he had "spend a pleasant day with old Ld Russell". 78

Browning's connections among journalists is similarly impressive. His best friend,

Joseph Milsand, was the very knowledgeable and important critic of the Revue des deux Mondes. After a trip to France in 1869, Browning wrote to Isa Blagden: "Well, I'm back-having spent a month in Paris, lazily enough. I saw very few interesting

people, - Renan, Dore, Gerome, being the exceptions; but Milsand made amends for

everything and everybody. "79 Another mine of information was the Reverend Francis Sylvester Mahony, better known as Father Prout. Browning knew him as one of the

original Fraserians in the 1830s. Based in Paris since 1848, he became the correspondent for the Globe (1858-66). In 1846-47 he reported from Rome for the Daily News, during

which time he spent many evenings at the Brownings' expounding on the machinations

of the Vatican. 80 Browning's level of acquaintance with journalists varied. The Paris

76 Stanley Lane Poole, The Life of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe (Longman, 1890), pp. 261-62. DNB, XLIX, pp. 468-69. Lady Russell (Byron's lady "whose bloom could after dancing, dare the dawn", DNB, XL IX, p. 437) was, according to EBB, "a very clever woman who knows the mind of her House and party", 4 March 1859, Huxley, p. 311. Odo had met Louis Napoleon in 1861 to discuss the Roman Question, Owen Meredith, pp. 192-93; The Roman Question: Extracts From the Despatches of Odo Russell From Rome 1858-1870, ed. by Noel Blakiston (Chapman and Hall, 1%2), pp. 181-84.

' 18 October 1862,19 February 1863,26 November 1866, Dearest Isa, p. 129, p. 154, pp. 251-52. 7819 October 1864,21 March 1867,21 May 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 266, pp. 258-59, p. 359. 79 16 May 1869, Dearest Isa, p. 317. 80 Huxley, 92-94. DNB, XXXV, pp. 336-38. New Letters, p. 129, n. 8. The Globe had a long tradition of anti-Toryism and in the 1840s was the mouthpiece of John Russell. In 1869, under

34

correspondents of the Morning Chronicle, the Herald, and the Standard were "dear

friends", the Rome correspondent of The Times was a neighbour, and for certain

journalists on the National and the Charivari Browning had letters of introduction. 81

Then there were friends who had met or knew Louis Napoleon personally:

Marguerite Power, Louis Blanc, Monckton Milnes, Sir John Bowring, Thackeray,

Carlyle, Landor, John Forster. Many remembered the Emperor from the gatherings at

Lady Blessington's Gore House during the 1840s (other guests included Father Prout,

Disraeli, Dickens, and Bulwer-Lytton). Marguerite Power, Lady Blessington's niece and

biographer, and John Forster were present at Gore House on the day Louis Napoleon

dramatically dropped by and told them the tale of his escape from prison. Ten years

later, Forster described the evening to Landor in response to the latter's inquiry:

You are however right as to the meeting of which Lady Blessington told you. On the first day of Louis Napoleon's arrival in London after the escape from Ham, I formed one of the party of five, Lady Blessington, d'Orsay, Marguerite Power, her sister Ellen, and myself, who sat down with him to dinner at Gore House. He, Miss Power and myself, are the survivors of the party, to whom, after dinner, he described his way of escape by passing through the fortress-gates in a labourer's blouse and sabots, with a heavy plank on his shoulder, flinging off the plank into the ditch by the wall of the chateau, and afterward, shod as he was, running nearly two miles to where a little cart provided by Conneau waited to take him within reach of the coast, from which he had crossed but the day before: all of it told in his usual un-French way, without warmth or excitement... He gave me afterwards, with an inscription to me on the fly-leaf written by himself, a book which I still keep called the Prisoner of Ham, with a clever pen-and-ink sketch not unlike him as he was in those days S2

Louis Blanc knew him from Ham and the early days of the Second Republic. Carlyle

had once dined with him, and, seeing that the young man's talk "was a puddle of

revolutionary nonsense", had "talked a good deal to him". (Louis Napoleon, in turn,

new management, it became conservative. Bourne, II, p. 29, p. 95, p. 225, p. 275. The radical Daily News was at that time under the editorship of Charles Dilke. Bourne, II, pp. 147-49. 81 Hood, p. 39, New Letters, p. 70, p. 194, n. 8. New Letters, p. 115. Mitford, III, p. 330. 82 John Forster, Walter Savage Landor, 2 vols (Chapman and Hall, 1869), hereafter Forster, II, p. 469. Miss Power and Lady Blessington moved to Paris in 1849 and were invited to the Elysse Palace by Louis Napoleon. Robert R. Madden, The Literary Life and Correspondence of the Countess

of Blessington, 3 vols (Newby, 1855), hereafter Madden, I, p. 214. For Browning and Miss Power

see Dearest Isa, p. 3, p. 272.

35

had been invited to Cheyne Row, inquiring afterwards, "if that man was mad". )83

Landor had included an account of his personal relationship with Louis Napoleon in

one of his "Conversations". Beranger, referring to the French suppression of the Roman

Republic in 1849, tells La Roche-Jaquelin (a member of the French Assembly):

I heard it reported in this city that when the French general landed at Civitä Vecchia, with a lie in his mouth thrust into it by the president, an English gentleman sent back the work on artillery which the president had given to him. This gentleman was in the habitude of meeting the prince at Lady Blessington's, under whose roof a greater number of remarkable and illustrious men assembled from all nations... When he returned to London from his captivity at Ham, he was greeted by Lady Blessington's friend, "as having escaped the two heaviest misfortunes, a prison and a throne".

"Whichever of the two may befall me, " said the prince, "I hope I shall see you. " "

"If a prison, " said the other, "the thing is possible; if a throne, not. "84

Landor, who was under Browning's care in Florence (from August 1859 until his death

in 1864), must have been a good source of information for Louis Napoleon's character. "The quiet of this place", wrote EBB, "has so restored his health and peace of mind that

he is able to write awful Latin alcaics, to say nothing of hexameters and pentameters, on

the wickedness of Louis Napoleon. "85

The Franco-Prussian war and the subsequent civil war in France were momentous

events and there was great interest in the fate of the Emperor. As is common during

revolutions, many "secret documents", of various degrees of authenticity, were

published to disclose the corruption of the previous regime and to justify the actions of

the present. There were also "literary" efforts. Of the many pamphlets and poems that

were flooding the market Browning's work is unique only in terms of quality. Much of

the poetry on the subject was doggerel. The description of the coup d'etat from The Rise

83 James A. Froude, Thomas Carlyle, A History of His Life in London 1834-1881,2 vols (Longmans, Green, 1884), I, p. 453,11, p. 400. William Allingham's Diary, ed. by Hellen Allingham and Dollie Radford (Fontwell, Sussex: Centaur Press, 1%7), hereafter Allingham, p. 261. 84 The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor, ed. by John Forester, 8 vols (Chapman and Hall, 1876), VI, p. 582. Landor had met Louis Napoleon in August 1846 in Bath, and writes of his encounter to Lady Blessington (Madden, II, pp. 393-95) and to Forster (Forster, II, pp. 466-67). 85 To Isa Blagden, [6-7] September 1859 [Checklist, p. 253, n. 59: 183], pp. 336-37. Browning continued to be responsible for Landor even after leaving Italy in 1861. See Forster, II, p. 563.

36

and Fall of "Caesar", How He Rose and Why He Fell, is a fair example of the generally

crude level of the material:

You ve heard of that damsel, how first when he knew her, He vow'd to protect her maidenly fame;

How he kissed, and embraced, and stealthily slew her - The beautiful "La Belle Republic" by name.

And how in the dead of the night were down-stricken- The aged and helpless - the wealthy and poor;

Is it not to all time most indelibly written On the stones of the boul'vards, in letters of gore? 86

Another sample worth mentioning is Napoleon the Third at the Tribunal of History which

is a translation of a pamphlet circulated in Paris during the Prussian siege.

Unfortunately its theme of judgement is merely perfunctory; the author is only

concerned with blame. The setting is a courtroom in which History is prosecuting the

Accused. Appearing for the prosecution: Liberty, Peace, The Public Debt; for the defence:

The Senate, The Police, Mr. Official:

The Court was thronged with an eager multitude, in the midst of which we noticed the representatives of most of the European Powers, together with a certain number of crowned and discovered heads.. . At the moment when the order was given for the introduction of the accused, a certain agitation, followed by a profound silence took place in the Court, and there entered a man of middle height, with a long body, short legs, enormous moustache, small and deep-set eyes, and with a slight drag in his walk ... The accused was simply dressed, and no internal emotion was visible upon his passive features 87

Robert Buchanan's Napoleon Fallen, "A Lyrical Drama" is of interest because, in a letter,

he thanks Browning for the corrections he had made in the proofs 88 (However, there

are no allusions in Browning's poem to the earlier work. ) The Emperor is portrayed as

oscillating between feelings of remorse and the desire for retribution, but it is obvious

where Buchanan's sympathies lie. The play is set at the Chateau of Wilhelmshöhe

where Louis Napoleon was kept prisoner by the Prussians after his surrender at Sedan.

86 (Williams, 1871), pp. 10-11. 87 (Simpkin, Marshall, 1871), p. 5. 88 12 December 1870, M LS at Alexander Turnbull Library, New Zealand.

37

Buchanan did not like the Emperor and depicts him as a bitter man, angry at the French

for abandoning him because of "a few poor drops of blood", regretting his liberal

concessions, and plotting maniacally to regain his throne, gain his revenge, and ensure his dynasty's future. He recalls how he had controlled France like a tiger tamed and kept in a dark cage,

seeking all arts To soothe the savage instinct in its throes Of passionate unrest; with one hand holding Sweet things within my palm for it to lap, And with the other, held behind my back, Clutching the secret steel: oft, lest the thing Should fasten on its master, cunningly Turning its wrath against the shapes that moved Outside its splendid lair; until at last, Let forth to the mad light of War, it sprang Shrieking, and sought to rend me. 0 thou beast! 89

Louis Napoleon spent the last two years of his life in England. He arrived at Dover,

after his release by the Prussians, on 20 March 1871. The Times, his enemy for the past eighteen years, was magnanimous in victory. The paper finally admitted that the Emperor had "often proved himself our friend", and it was proud that his reception by

the crowd was warmer than the one the new German Emperor had received in Berlin. 90

The paper did point out that despite one's natural sympathy for the vanquished, despite Prussia's antagonizing behaviour, despite the almost uncontrollable national enthusiasm for the war, the responsibility belonged to the Emperor. He fully deserved

the blame and his exile. For the second and final time Louis Napoleon had been

banished from the country of his birth. Browning had been keeping the Emperor at the back of his mind for many years; the time was now right to let him out. Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau was published in December 1871. At the time there were rumours of a possible Bonapartist revival in France. The previous month Louis Napoleon had

written a letter to The Times denying such allegations. It is fitting that Browning's

subject provides the best introduction to Browning's poem:

When one has fallen from such a height, the first sentiment one experiences is not the desire to again mount upon the pinnacle, but to

89 Napoleon Fallen (Straham, 1871), p. 18, p. 112. 90 21 March 1871, p. 10.

38

seek the causes of the fall in order to explain one's conduct and combat calumny, while still recognizing one's faults. In doing this

one reviews the past, rather than seeks to review the future, and strives much more to justify one's self than to accomplish a

restoration. `n

In the course of my introduction I have provided a basic historical and biographical

context for Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau and explained the poem's problematic

intricacies. My purpose in this dissertation is to place and examine the poem within its

proper textual, formal, topical, historical, and political context. I aim to demonstrate

that, contrary to previous opinion, Browning's view on Louis Napoleon is not

ambivalent, but evident; and he intends the reader to infer this view based on the

assumption that the reader is familiar with the allusions made and events described

within the poem. In Chapter 2I will establish my text: relating its history and

evolution, and examining the relevant editions. I will argue that since there is no

significant textual advantage among the editions, because of the poem's topicality and

historical significance, the first edition should be the proper choice of copy-text. In

Chapter 3I will show how Browning has created a new form which allows the speaker

to observe and judge himself (as if) in a dramatic monologue, and how this affects

character revealment. In Chapter 4I will trace various allusions to show the

background which Browning has established for the poem. I will explain why the

crowning of the edifice is so ironic; why Thiers and Hugo are choice narrators of the

Prince's career; how compatible companions for Louis Napoleon are a prostitute and a

charlatan; how the rise and fall of the Second Empire can suitably be compared to a

trend in women's fashion. In Chapter 5I will examine the Prince's account of his

political career. I will show that Browning, in order to be fair, asks his readers to judge

Louis Napoleon's career based on the how the Prince sees the choices available to him-

before reaching their own conclusions. In the final chapter I will trace the casuistry in

the Prince's political philosophy, place the poem in a context of Browning's political

opinions, and discuss Browning's personal attitude towards Louis Napoleon as

expressed within the poem and in Browning's letters.

9123 October 1871, p. 10.

39

Chapter 2

Text

There are three texts that need to be considered and examined in a textual study of

Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society. These are the MS, the first edition, and

the version in volume XI of the 1888-89 (16 vols) Poetical Works. The MS is the printer's

copy which Browning later gave to Balliol College, Oxford. The first, and only, edition

was published in December 1871. The 1888-89 version was published under

Browning's supervision and contains his final revisions.

Even though my approach is not editorial but critical, the issue of copy-text needs to

be addressed from the outset. By the late nineteenth century the printed text had

gained much authority due to better publishing standards and the increased control of

authors. 1 Given Browning's concern with the accuracy of the printing of his poems

(and the lack of any special circumstances associated with a MS), MSS should have little

relevance to issues concerning the choice of copy-text. Browning, himself, usually

viewed MSS as only the first step towards the final version and would continue

working on the poem in proof. 2 His great reluctance for the physical act of writing was

coupled by a need to see his words in a printed format before he could finalize his

intentions .3 Three options remain for the choice of copy-text. using the first published version of

a poem, using the final version edited by Browning, or a mixture of the two based on

each version's qualities. The eclectic approach, being too subjective and dependent on

each editor's opinion and judgment, is clearly undesirable. But it does enforce the

notion that the choice of using the first or the final version of a poem as copy-text has to

1 Philip Kelley and William S. Peterson, "Browning's Final Revisions", Browning Institute Studies, 1 (1973), hereafter Final Revisions, pp. 87-118 (p. 88). For an account of the advances in printing technology and their reflection on authors' control and revising potential, see Allan C. Dooley, Author and Printer in Victorian England (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992), hereafter Dooley, pp. 3-5, pp. 21-22, p. 169. 2 LAEP, I, p. xiii. 3 See John Woolford and Daniel Karlin, Robert Browning (Longman, 1996), hereafter Woolford and Karlin, p. 21, PP. 27-28.

40

be made at a fundamental level. Complications arise from issues having to do with the

rights and authority of the poet, the results and success of his revisions, 4 or even the

requirements of the general reader as opposed to those of the scholar. I have used the

first edition in this study because I agree, in principle, with the Longman editors that a

"poem, or any other literary work, on its first publication emerges from, and enters into,

a particular historical and biographical context which determines important elements of

its identity" .5 Applications to contemporary reviews and opinions demand the same

point of reference as the text at hand. Specifically, the historical and biographical

context is especially relevant to Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau given the poems direct

association with the person and career of Napoleon III, the traumatic historical events

which immediately preceded its publication, and the Emperor's prominence in the lives

of the Brownings.

Another reason why the 1871 edition is the more suitable choice is that the 1888-89

edition is not exactly as perfect as Browning would have wanted it to be. Browning's

method of revision was to make changes using either the first edition or the last revised

version of a poem and then to check the results in the proofs. 6 The sixteen volumes of Poetical Works were published at the rate of one per month from April 1888 to July 1889.

Browning had taken his usual care in their preparation. In a letter of 31 December 1887

to his publisher, George Smith, he writes (in reference to the first six volumes): "Indeed

I have gone over them so often that I see little or nothing to amend in the poems, except

in the punctuation. "7 He again expresses his satisfaction to Smith on 6 May 1888:

Along with [the proofs of] Vol. 3., I send to the Printer, if you will kindly take charge of them, the corrected Vols. 11.12.14.15. and 16:... I have had, as usual, to congratulate myself on the scrupulous accuracy of the Printers, - and the whole appearance of the books is most satisfactory in every respect .8

And on 5 June 1889, returning the proofs of the last volume, he encloses a note of thanks to the printer: "I cannot return the revises of the last volume of my works without

4 See, for example, the case of "The Lost Leader" (LAEP, I, p. xiv) where Browning's changing attitude towards Wordsworth is reflected in his revisions. 5 Ibid., p. xii. 6 Ibid., p. xi. Final Revisions, p. 93. 7 Final Revisions, p. 92. I am indebted to Kelley and Peterson for the account of the history of the 1888-89 edition. 8 Quoted in Final Revisions, p. 93.

41

expressing my gratitude for the admirable supervision of the gentleman whose care to

correct my mistakes or oversights has so greatly obliged me. "9

In contrast to the letters to George Smith, he writes to his brother-in-law George

Barrett on 28 March 1888: "I do my part and correct what little I can, -but there will be

no material change anywhere" 10 and on 16 May 1889 to John T. Nettleship (with

reference to Red Cotton Night-Cap Country): "But it is long ago, now, since I wrote the

poem; which I have never read till I was obliged to run through it, for corrections, a few

weeks ago. "11 The tone of these letters ("what little I can", "obliged") suggests that Browning had undertaken the revisions with less enthusiasm than might otherwise be

inferred from the letters to his publisher. The result was that-whether through casual

editing or printing errors, or a mixture of the two -Browning found many mistakes in

the published version of the 1888-89 edition. Busy with Asolando at the time, he

managed to make corrections in the first ten volumes only, before setting off for Italy.

These he marked in the set (now in the British Library) belonging to James Dykes

Campbell, the Browning Society's secretary. Some of these corrections are in ink and some are marked with pencil. It has been suggested that only those in ink are Browning's; and that some of the changes in punctuation are wrong-a case of Browning falling victim to "his own complex syntax". 12

The situation is further complicated by the existence of another set of 1888-89

corrections by Browning. Found among his belongings at his death (and now at Brown University), it is a list of changes to volumes IV through X. 13 A collation of the two sets shows a total of two hundred and eighty-three changes in the ten volumes (though

there are a few instances where the same item is treated differently in each set! ). 14

Based on this evidence, one may assume that Browning would have been similarly dissatisfied with the remaining six volumes which he did not get a chance to correct. Therefore one cannot claim with complete confidence that the version of the poems

9 "Browning Memorial Note", Poet-Lore, 2 (1890), p. 101. Quoted in Final Revisions, p. 95. 10 George Barrett, p. 313. Quoted in Morse Peckham, "Lessons To Be Learned From the Ohio Browning Edition", Studies In Browning and His Circle, 1.1 (Spring 1973), hereafter Peckham, 71-73 (p. 71). 11 Hood, p. 309. Quoted in Peckham, p. 71. 12 Peckham, p. 72. 13 Both lists are contained in Final Revisions, pp. 100-17. 14 Final Revisions, p. 98.

42

contained in the last six volumes of the 1888-89 Poetical Works would have met with

Browning's full approbation. 15

Evolution

What is known for certain is that the poem was begun at some point during

Browning's stay in Rome from 3 December 1859 to 4 June 1860, and was finished in

autumn 1871 in Scotland. Discussing it in a letter (1 January 1872) to Edith Story, he

recalls:

I really wrote -that is, conceived the poem, twelve years ago in the Via del Triton-in a little handbreadth of prose, -now yellow with age and Italian ink, - which I breathed out into this full-blown bubble in a couple of months this autumn that is gone - thinking it fair so to do. 16

DeVane suggests that the Italian Question might have inspired an earlier version of a

poem that could be related to Louis Napoleon. 17 The source is a letter by EBB to

Browning's sister, Sarianna, of 7 April 1860:

Robert and I began to write on the Italian question together, and our plan was (Robert's own suggestion! ) to publish jointly. When I showed him my ode to Napoleon he observed that I was gentle to England in comparison to what he had been, but after Villafranca (the Palmerston Ministry having come in) he destroyed his poem and left me alone, and I determined to stand alone. What Robert had written no longer suited the moment 18

DeVane's suggestion is not unreasonable. If one chooses to stress "my ode to

Napoleon", it would suggest that Browning's poem was also on Louis Napoleon. Ever

since the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte's restructuring of the peninsula,

15 Due to demand after Browning's death George Smith reissued the 1888-89 Poetical Works, bearing 1889 as year of publication. (The original set changes date from 1888 to 1889 beginning with volume nine. ) These incorporate the new corrections to volumes I through X, but Kelley and Peterson have convincingly shown that the changes are unreliable and do not reflect Browning's final intentions (Final Revisions, p. 97). 16 A. can Friends, p. 167. The "handbreadth of prose" has not been found. It was Browning's habit to destroy all drafts preceding the printer's copy (LAEP, I, p. ix), but "now yellow with age" suggests that it was still in existence at the time the letter was written. 17 DeVane, p. 358.

43

France had gained a reputation as the liberator of Italy; and Louis Napoleon, with his

carbonaro background and advocacy of autonomy for nationalities, was viewed, by the

Brownings (in varying degrees) and many others, as the best (and, at times, the only)

hope for Italian unification. It is reasonable to assume that Louis Napoleon would

feature prominently in a poem on the Italian Question. In 1853, soon after the Second

Empire was proclaimed, EBB reports to Mrs Martin (not a fan of the Emperor) that

the Italian democrats of the lower classes, the popular clubs in Florence, are clinging to him as their one hope. Ah, here's oppression! here's a people trodden down! You should come here and see. It is enough to turn the depths of the heart bitter. The will of the people forced, their instinctive affections despised, their liberty of thought spied into, their national life ignored altogether. Robert keeps saying, "How long, 0 Lord, how long? "19

The following year, with hope growing, she asks her,

Are you very curious about the subject of gossip just now between Lord Palmerston and Louis Napoleon? We hear from somebody in Paris, whose metier it is to know everything, that it refers to the readjustment of the affairs in Italy. May God grant it! The Italians have been hanging their whole hope's weight upon Louis Napoleon ever since he came to power, and if he does now what he can for them I shall be proud of my protege-oh, and so glad! Robert and I clapped our hands yesterday when we heard this; we couldn't refrain, though our informant was reactionary and in a deep state of conservative melancholy. 20

By the winter of 1859 Browning's mood was one of frustration, though EBB maintained

her enthusiasm. EBB recounts, what was probably a typical exchange, to Henrietta:

I have repeated-"and this man is the only man on this earth who will and can help Italy. "

"Slow about it, " has Robert ejaculated sometimes. "Only wait, only wait, " have I answered. Now we Italians (such as Pen and I) are all trembling with

expectation. 21

18 Kenyon, II, pp. 368-69 (Checklist, p. 277. Kenyon gives the date as March 1860). 19 21 April 1853, Kenyon, II, p. 114. 20 25 November 1854 (Checklist, p. 368), Kenyon, II, pp. 181-82. 2110 February 1859, Huxley, p. 306.

44

The war with Austria was declared on 3 May 1859. Derby resigned on 17 June.

Palmerston headed an interim administration until Parliament was officially opened on

30 June. The battle of Solferino took place on 24 June; the meeting of the Emperors at

Villafranca on 12 July. Browning's poem was most probably disparaging of Derby's

pro-Austrian government and its reluctance to support the cause of Italian freedom.

Conservative factions feared the growing influence of Louis Napoleon and, as a general

policy, opposed any event that would threaten the alliances formed in 1815 specifically

to contain France. The government, through diplomatic missions, had been anxiously

trying to prevent the war with Austria. After Crimea, a war between France and

Austria would place Britain in the difficult position of deciding between two allies.

Liberal factions, though sympathizing with the Italian cause, were also quite wary of

the French Emperor. However, they valued the alliance with France and advocated a

policy of neutrality. After Derby's resignation, John Russell had stated in the Commons

that he had not believed that, in the event of war, the government would remain neutral

since "they were not disposed to keep up that intimate alliance with France on which

our influence with France depended". 22 Five months earlier EBB had expressed to

Henrietta her hope of a change of government:

But judge, all of you, what I must be feeling during the present state of things; and while the infamous Times backs the present ministry into the iniquity of holding the hand of Austria against France in the matter of Italy. If any open step were taken by England on this bad road, I should learn to speak a new language. But there is hope still. The Daily News, for instance, is more generous than I expected; and the Post, Lord Palmerston's organ, speaks bravely and as I would have it. The people of England will never justify Lord Derby in the overt policy - surely it must be impossible. 23

Though the general feeling in the country was one of sympathy with the Italians,

Derby's government actually fell due to the failure of a Disraeli parliamentary reform bill. 24 Clough, writing to Charles E. Norton in the USA, gives an impression of the

mixed mood at the time:

22 AR (1859), p. 115. 23 10 February 1859, Huxley, pp. 305-06. Maintaining an alliance with France for as long as possible was one of the main points of Palmerston's foreign policy. See J. W. Wilkins, "Lord Palmerston and Our Foreign Policy", North British Review, 67 (1861), pp. 225-80 (p. 273). 24 "The government of Lord Derby had given its sympathy and moral support to Austria during the war, although nine-tenths of the people of England prayed for the success of allied armies. "

45

Disraeli, in answer to some friendly regrets at his fall, said it could only be a check for a time. But I think Palmerston may regain the general confidence of the country, as he has in a great measure of the liberal members ... The new Ministry will be strongly Italian in

composition; Lord John and Gladstone in addition to Palmerston. It is almost to be feared that they will outrun the national feeling, and go too much in the track of Louis Napoleon. We who live nearer to Louis Napoleon... do not feel quite the same liberty to indulge the

natural feelings of enthusiasm in witnessing his aggrandizement in Europe, though it be merely as a liberator that he effects it at present. 25

Reading between the lines of EBB's letter, Browning destroyed his poem not, as she

tries to imply, because of the advent of the Whig government with its pro-Italian

sympathies, but because Villafranca seemed, ironically, to justify Derby's mistrust of

Louis Napoleon's foreign policy. The Tories' diplomatic attempts to prevent the war

had affected even Browning's patriotism. EBB wrote her sister of "the disgrace with

which the English name has covered itself lately among thinkers of all nations", and

added, "Robert and I are of one mind on the subject, which is a comfort "26 After

Villafranca, a poem criticizing the Conservatives' attitude would have had little force.

The fact that EBB's poem was on Louis Napoleon is little reason to suppose the same for

Brownings. Publishing jointly, the poem would have had to be short enough to

balance EBB's ode; and, if on Louis Napoleon, expressing enough of his wife's

sentiments so as not to cause hilarity. Browning had far too much to say on the

Emperor to satisfy in a short poem, and it is difficult to imagine that he would have

changed his mind about Louis Napoleon's probity or forgiven him the betrayal of the

Edward Spender, "The Kingdom of Italy", LQR, 24 (1865), hereafter Spender, The Kingdom of Italy, 446-92 (p. 455). 25 27 May 1859, Letters and Remains of Arthur C. Clough (Spottiswoode, 1865), p. 292. The

republican Clough was in Rome in 1849 during the French attack on the city, and has left vivid and amusing accounts of the event in his letters. The book was privately printed. Browning's

copy was a gift from Jowett. Philip Kelley and Betty A. Coley, The Browning Collections: A Reconstruction with Other Memorabilia (Winfield: Armstrong Browning Library of Baylor University, 1984), p. 59. 26 27 May 1859, Huxley, p. 314. She told the same thing to Browning's sister: "Robert has taken

up the same note, which is a comfort. I would rather hear my own heart in his voice. Certainly it

must be more bitter for him than for me, seeing that he has more national predilections than I have, and has struggled longer to see differently", May 1859, Kenyon, II, p. 313-14. When Browning was invited to dinner with the Prince of Wales during his visit to Rome, the Brownings had assumed that the subject of Anglo-Italian politics would not be welcome: "Well, so I exhorted my Robert to eschew compliments and keep to Italian politics, and we both laughed, as at a jest", 27 March 1859, to Isa Blagden, Kenyon, II, p. 310.

46

French and Roman Republics, even at the price of Italian unity. Given the irreconcilable

difference of opinion between husband and wife, it is very unlikely that Browning

would have made a "suggestion" to write jointly on the Emperor.

There is another possibility of an early version of a Napoleonic poem. EBB, in a

letter of 18 May 1860 to Fanny Haworth, mentions that Browning has been working on

a certain "long poem": "Robert deserves no reproaches, for he has been writing a good

deal this winter-working at a long poem which I have not seen a line of, and

producing short lyrics which I have seen, and may declare worthy of him. "V

Despite Browning's description of "a little handbreadth of prose", DeVane suggests

that the reference could be to Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau: "It has been generally

supposed that Hohenstiel-Schwangau was the long poem which Mrs. Browning in her

letters from Rome early in 1860 mentions her husband as working upon. "28 But he also

writes that there is some evidence to suggests that "Sludge" "was probably the long

poem, 'which I have not seen a line of; recorded by Mrs. Browning on May 18,1860"29

There are a number of poems which in terms of date and length could qualify as the

reference. Even though it is generally supposed that the Brownings, as a rule, did not

read each others poems before they were finished, EBB's "I have not seen a line of" is

taken (perhaps unfairly) as further evidence that the poem's subject must have been a

contentious one. In the case of Men and Women, at least, EBB had certainly seen the

poems before publication ("I criticise Robert's MSS"). 30 Griffin, without any real

evidence, thought that the long poem "was certainly a first draft of Prince Hohenstiel-

Schwangau", but modern scholars, generally, give the preference to "Sludge". Irvine

and Honan, for example, see the reference as "almost without doubt". 31

There is much evidence to confirm the validity of this view. Browning wrote most

of the poems which make up Dramatis Personae (May 1864) in 1859-60 and during his

holidays in Brittany in 1862 and 1863. He writes to Isa Blagden (18 August 1862) from

Sainte Marie, Pornic that "The place is much to my mind; I have brought books, &

27 Kenyon, II, p. 388. 28 DeVane, p. 358. 29 DeVane, p. 307. Penguin (I, p. 1163, p. 1176) also applies the reference to both poems. 30 To Henrietta, 27 April 1855 (Checklist, p. 81), Huxley, p. 216. 31 William H. Griffin and Harry C. Minchin, The Life of Robert Browning, 3rd edn (Methuen, 1938), hereafter Griffin and Minchin, p. 219. Irving and Honan, p. 373. See also Betty B. Miller, Robert Browning: A Portrait (John Murray, 1952), hereafter MiUer, pp. 211-12; Penguin, I, p. 1163.

47

write". 32 And on 19 November 1963 he tells her that "most of what you saw at Siena

[summer of 1860] will be brought out in the Spring". 33 Browning's pain and frustration

caused by the experience with the false medium Sophie Eckley could have been a

probable catalyst for "Sludge". M Both "Sludge" and "A Likeness" ("short lyrics which I

have seen") allude to the famous prize fight between Tom Sayers and John Heenan (17

April 1860) which EBB also mentions in her letter of 18 May 1860; and it makes sense

that Browning would not have conceived of such a poem on mediums so soon after

EBB's death (June 1861). In the same letter of 19 November 1863 to Isa Blagden, after a

reference to some verses by Frederick Tennyson on "mediumship", Browning tells her

that "Those of mine, by the way, which you inquire about, shall be printed with my

new things" 35 The implication being that Isa had known of a poem related to

spiritualism in the Summer of 1860. Isa's inquiry may have been the result of the

publication of Home's Incidents In My Life in 1863. Even though Browning had stated

(19 April 1863) that he had not read the book, 36 there are parallels between the lives of

young Home and "David" Sludge. It is likely, then, that "Sludge" began to take shape

in 1859-60 and continued to evolve during the following three to four years 37

The only other poem in Dransatis Personae which qualifies as a long poem is "A

Death in the Desert", in which Browning includes the argument that the methodology

of the Higher Critics of reading the Bible as simply a book of historical facts is

misguided. The poem clearly was affected by Renan's La Vie de Jesus, though Browning

deals with Renan directly in "Epilogue". Browning had read Renan's book (as soon as it was published) in November 1863 ("I have just read Renan's book, and find it weaker

and less honest that I was led to expect") 33 However, "A Death" is not necessarily disqualified as the source of EBB's "long poem". Browning was familiar with the

32 Dearest Isa, p. 116 ( p. 119: "[I] mean to keep writing, whether I like it or no"). 33 Ibid., p. 180. 34 Miller, pp. 211-12. Browning wrote to the Storys in 1863: "I cried 'poison' at first sniff-and suffered more, from maintaining it, than from any incident in my whole life", American Friends, p. 133. See also Dearest Isa, p. 314. 35 Dearest Isa, p. 176. 36 Dearest Isa, p. 160. 37 The MS of "Sludge" contains much revision. The publication of Dramatis Personae was delayed for a year to allow for the sales of the 1863 Poetical Works (3 vols). See The Complete Works of Robert Browning, Roma A. King, gen. ed. (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1969-), VI, p. 428, pp- 453-54. 38 19 November 1863, Dearest Isa, p. 180.

48

theories of Biblical criticism prior to Renan, and both DeVane and William Raymond

argue the common view that the poem was conceived and partly written before 1863.39

EBB makes another reference to the "long poem". In a letter, written around the

same time as the letter to Fanny Haworth, 40 she writes to William Allingham: "Robert is

writing, not political poems, but a poem in books, a line of which I have not seen-and

also certain exquisite lyrics which I have seen. Neither he nor I have been idle this

winter, nor mean to be idle this summer. "41 It is clear from the almost exact similarity

between the two passages that they refer to the same poem - she even makes the

allusion to Tom Sayers further on. A poem "in books" is tantalizing. Browning had not

yet come across The Old Yellow Book, and the only poem in Dramatis Personae which

can remotely qualify as being in books is "James Lee" (which is in sections). But "James

Lee" is not very long and its mood and scenery strongly suggest that it had been written

during the holidays in Brittany. 43 Could the "books" refer to the Prince's

"Autobiography" [1220] and "Thiers-and-Victor-Hugo exercise" [1223]: the written

chapter and the "unwritten chapter" [1231]? Could "Here he the dozen volumes of my

life" [1226] be all that is left from an original conception, later transferred to Browning's

new discovery? Based on the evidence available, it is not possible to be certain of the

identity of the "long poem" "in books". If it were Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, it may

be that Browning's claim of having conceived of the poem in Rome means that he had

conceived of the poem in its present form-as opposed to one "in books". Whatever the

case, his disappointment in the armistice and his anger at Louis Napoleon, probably

resulted in the genesis of the 1871 poem. The point of interest is that both the "long

poem" and the "little handbreadth of prose" were written after Louis Napoleon's Italian

campaign, and yet another broken promise.

Browning was in Scotland from 8 August to 12 October 1871. Except for a short

visit to Lady Ashburton at Loch Luichart Lodge, he stayed at Milton House as guest of

39 DeVane, pp. 295-97. William 0. Raymond, The Infinite Moment and Other Essays in Robert Browning (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1950), pp. 33-35. 40 Checklist (p. 244) gives the date as [c 25] May 1860. EBB mentions in her letter that they are to leave Rome in one week. They left on 4 June. 41 Letters to William Allingham, ed. by Helen Allingham and E. Baumer Williams (New York: Longmans, 1911), hereafter Letters to Allingham, p. 107. 42 In The Ring and the Book (I, 91) Browning writes that he found the book in June in Florence. The Brownings were in Florence from 9 June to 7 July 1860. 43 De Vane, pp. 284-85. Griffin and Minchin, p. 229.

49

his close friend, Ernest Benzon, and worked steadily on the poem. ̀ Being in solitude

for most of the day, a piano and his books at hand, he had found "an impulse to

write"45 Jowett was also vacationing in Scotland, in the company of Swinburne and

some other friends, one of whom (Edwin Harrison) later wrote: "Robert Browning was

in the neighbourhood at the time... perpetrating 'Hohenstiel Schwangau' at the rate of

so many lines a day, neither more nor less. "46 While Jowett greatly admired Louis

Napoleon (as one tyrant to another), the Victor Hugo-worshipping Swinburne hated the

French Emperor, and Browning, perhaps wisely, seems to have kept quiet about his

work. The following month Swinburne wrote: "I did not know ... that Browning's late

labours had had for their subject a topic fitter for Swift. If he means to rescue the prey

from under Hugo's lion claws, or even mine, he must look to his hunting gear. "47

Browning's own version of that period appears in a letter to Isa Blagden.

I never at any time in my life turned a holiday into such an occasion of work: the quiet and seclusion were too tempting, -and, bringing with me a little sketch begun in Rome in '60, that I have occasionally fancied I should like to finish, or rather expand, -I have written about 1800 absolutely new lines or more, and shall have the whole thing out of hand by the early winter. 48

It is difficult to identify the original conception of 1860 within the poem. Beside I.

1908 in the MS Browning has noted "Milton House, Glen Fincastle Perthsh. Sept. 30.

'71". This is not to be taken as evidence that he had originally decided to end the poem

at this point-it is clearly unfinished. Browning had the habit of writing at the end of

his MSS, "L. D. I. E. ": Laus Deo in Excelsis/Eternum (Praise be to God in the

highest/for evermore). This appears only at the end of the poem, and not (in a crossed-

out form, for example) around 1.1908. Also, "shall have the whole thing out of hand by

the early winter" is final. The note is probably a self-reminder of when he had stopped

working, since he was about to leave Milton House to visit Lady Ashburton and did not

expect to do much writing there. The visit, however, was cut short, and Browning soon

Hood, p. 148, p. 357: n. 73: 4-1. 45 Dearest Isa, p. 365. 46 Evelyn Abbot and Lewis Campbell, The Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett, 2 vols (John Murray, 1897), II, pp. 12-13. Quoted in Dearest Isa, p. 366. 47 To Frederick Locker, 15 November 1871, The Swinburne Letters, ed. by Cecil Lang, 6 vole (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959-62), II, p. 171. 49 1 October 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 369.

50

returned to Milton House and resumed work on the poem. 49 The note beside 1.1908 is

crossed out and the poem continues in a different ink from the next line. On the last

page of the MS, beside U. 2120-23, there is another note: "a few lines of the rough sketch

written at Rome, 1860. Resumed, in the middle of August, and finished at Milton

House, Glen Fincastle, Perthsh. Oct. 7-71. "

The difficulty lies in deciding which part of the poem (before or after 30 September)

comprises the 1860 conception. It does not help that Browning himself describes the

1860 version in different ways. Apart from "a little handbreadth of prose", and "a little

sketch", there is another reference to it in a letter to Robert Buchanan (25 January 1871):

"I wrote, myself, a monologue in his name twelve years ago, and never could bring the

printing to my mind as yet. One day, perhaps. "50 The letter was in reference to

Buchanan's recently published Napoleon Fallen. Considering this description, the

"monologue" is in a finished form and ready for "printing"; this does not match the

dismissive "little" he had used in the other two instances. Buchanan was not an

intimate friend and the difference in description may be a reflection of a sense of

formality. Browning may have already decided to finish his poem and wanted to avoid

any misconceived attribution on Buchanan's part.

Taking Browning's use of the word "monologue" as an accurate description for the

moment, along with the fact that the first ninety lines of the MS are neatly written and

unaltered, one has a case that the 1860 conception forms the beginning of the poem,

which Browning wanted to "finish, or rather expand". This would also fit nicely

numerically: the ninety plus "about 1800 absolutely new lines or more" adding up to

around 1.1908. Browning stops work on 30 September, notes the date and place, and

writes the letter to Isa Blagden the following day. The rest of the poem is finished by 7

October. On the other hand, there is no reason to doubt Browning's own words that the

lines written by 30 September are "absolutely new". Line 1908 is at the top of the sixty-

second page of the MS, which averages thirty lines per page. Multiplying thirty by

49 Browning's relationship with Lady Ashburton is dealt with in William Whitla, "Browning and the Ashburton Affair", Browning Society Notes, 2.2 (July 1972), pp. 12-41. Whitla convincingly argues that, contrary to previous interpretations, it was Browning who (in 1869) had refused Lady Ashburtons' offer of marriage. Browning believed that she had insisted on his visit because, feeling scorned, she "wanted to have the air of shutting the door in my face with a final bang" (4 April 1872, to Edith Story, American Friends, p. 170). See also Virginia Surtees, The Ludovisi Goddess: The Life of Louisa Lady Ashburton (Salisbury: Michael Russell, 1984), pp. 139-49; Clyde de L. Ryals, The Lifte of Robert Browning (Oxford: Blackwell, 1993), pp. 172-75. 50 Hood, p. 145, and p. 356: n. 71: 1-1.

51

sixty-one gives eighteen hundred and thirty lines, which is a fair description of "I have

written about 1800 absolutely new lines or more" (with the differences being made up

by the various additions and insertions). Browning has also noted, in the margin of the

last page of the MS, the place where he has incorporated lines from 1860.

The nature of the "sketch" itself is not clear. Browning has also referred to it both as

"monologue" and "prose". Was it a mixture of some lines of poetry and a reminder, in

prose, of the structure and themes? It is not possible to know for certain the full extent

of the 1860 contribution to the poem without access to the "little sketch" 51

Assumptions, based on evidence from the MS, are part guesswork. For example, the

neatness of the early pages of the MS (few alterations up to the fifth page) could be the

result of copying an already heavily edited version, and not of lines already written in

the past. Or one could argue that the beginning of the poem must have been an 1871

conception since in 1860, when Louis Napoleon was the most powerful ruler in Europe,

the notion of his exile would have had no relevance. But Browning may have thought

of that eventuality from the very beginning and have been only waiting for Louis

Napoleon's fall. What can be surmised with some certainty is that Browning stopped

writing on 30 September, finished the poem during the following week, and edited the

MS before taking it to his publisher. On 8 November he wrote to Isa Blagden: "This

morning I gave the last look over the poem I am going, as soon as I finish this letter, to

carry to Smith. "52

Texts

The differences between the MS and the first edition are extensive. The many

changes, both substantive and accidental, and the presence of new variations and lines

in the first edition, show that Browning had continued editing the poem in the proofs. The MS, as has already been implied, should be regarded as a bonus - as a source of insight into the process of composition. For example, the MS originally had the "Thiers-

and-Victor-Hugo exercise" recounted by the Prince. The personal and possessive

pronouns were then changed into third-person, and the task of narration transferred to

the historian, giving him a more prominent role in the poem. More specifically, in a

51 A fragment of a prose draft of Red Cotton Night-Cap Country has survived, which gives an impression of what the "little sketch" could have been like. See Woolford and Karlin, p. 17. 52 Dearest Isa, p. 369.

52

passage discussing the conditions for the advent of the hero, 1.333 ("And there's an end

of immobility") in the MS has "the stability" for "immobility". The Prince has earlier

professed that his mission is to "render solid and stabilify" [280]. The change had to be

made so that the Prince's talent would not seem regressive. Or, 1.1218 (the Prince

having remembered Laie and shifted the scene back to Leicester Square) has been

altered so as to include the word "plague", which alludes to the beginning of the poem.

The MS can also yield instances of amusement. The last line of the motto, "Alack,

with ills I crowned the edifice", originally read, "With ills, I, luckless, crowned the edifice".

The first version is reminiscent of the Laocoän episode:

Just the judgement passed Upon a statue, luckless like myself, I saw at Rome once.

[1184-861

Since the motto is where Browning is passing judgement, the change may well be due

to his not wanting to be associated with that "crowd" who identified the statue's show

of emotion as "Somnolency". That would have been a fine example of a character

taking revenge on the author.

But there are also dangers in reading too much into the MS-both visual and

interpretative. In 11.313-14, "that society / Render efficient for the age's need", the MS

originally read "To prove" for "Render". "Render" is the better choice. Apart from its

appropriate connotations of debt, change, and performance, it is a perfect word for the

Prince/Louis Napoleon to use. With "Said'Render Caesar what is Caesar's due! "'53 in

mind, the word alludes to Louis Napoleon's sobriquet of "Caesar". It conforms to the

Prince's predilection for imperial trappings, while accommodating his two obsessions

of being ruler and God. Did Browning really want to imply all this, or was the change

instinctive? After all, the Prince had used the word "render" twice before in 1.13 and 1.

280. I thought of the allusion after I noticed the change in the MS.

Visually, the danger lies in trying to guess the time of any changes or additions based on the difference in ink. On almost all of the pages of the MS there are lines

added at the bottom; in some cases the passages make sense without them (for example, 11.581-2,11.643-4), and in some cases not (ll. 611-2). Quite often these lines seem to be in

a lighter ink, suggesting that they were written at a later time. The discolouration may

53 The Ring and the Book (III, 1477), alluding to Matthew, xxii. 21.

53

be due to a physical reason. Writing at the bottom of the page, there is a change in the

area of support for the hand. This causes a change in the pressure of the pen. The use

of a smaller pen for the in-between-lines additions, and ink, in a quill-pen, running out

towards the end of a sentence also cause a change in the look of the script (fountain

pens were not manufactured until 1884). m

The MS runs to sixty-nine pages, numbered at every other page (as was Browning's

habit), and written on quarto paper. The thirteenth page, containing ll. 342-63, is

slightly smaller, written with a different pen and ink, and has been glued in. The title

page bears the name of the poem, poet, and the quotation from Euripides underneath.

On the back of the first page Browning has written four lines in Greek, quoting a

passage from Pindar's second Olympian Odes:

Of deeds done in time past, whether lawfully or against law, not even Time the All-Father hath

power to annul the issue 55

The ode commemorates the victory of Theron, the tyrant of Acragas (Agrigento) in the

chariot race of 476 BC The Greeks beheld the races in high esteem, as symbolizing

the glories of the Heroic Age when chariots were used in battle. The races were a

source of honour for the victor, and, since gambling was common, of money. Pindar's

ode, while claiming that the victory will never be forgotten, contains the warning that

neither will the means used to achieve that end. The issue of means and ends is the

Prince's main concern in the "Autobiography":

Such was the task imposed me, such my end.

Now for the means thereto. Ah, confidence- Keep we together or part company? This is the critical minute!

[649-511

Browning, of course, saw Louis Napoleon's political gambling ("deeds") and victory in

becoming Emperor, as unlawful, and faring poorly in comparison to (the "heroic age"

54 My thanks to Penny Bullock and Alan Tadiello for their kind assistance with the MS. 55 The Works of Pindar, trans. by L. R. Farnell, (Macmillan, 1930), p. 14. 56 See The Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Nicholas L. Hammond and Howard H. Scullard, 2nd

edn (Oxford: Clarendon, 1970) under "Theron" and "Acragas".

54

of) the French Republics. Theron's patronage of architecture corresponds to Louis

Napoleon's rebuilding of Paris; the ode's concern with the after-life reflects the Prince's

allusions to heaven and hell at the end of the poem. Browning might have originally

intended to use the quotation, but it was never published, and remains a personal note

to friends to whom he would have shown the MS, and to posterity. 57

There are certain differences between the MS and the first edition that must be due

to the changes made in the proofs. The new lines are: 430,936,1544,1583,1615-17,

2044,2073, and 2076-7. Line 2075 in the MS ("And bearing! 'who is who' one well may

ask-") is a mixture of 1.2075 and 1.2078 from the poem. New paragraphs (marked "N. P. " by Browning in the margins) between the two are

the same except for eight instances. Lines 432 and 1475 mark new paragraphs in the MS

but not in 1871. Lines 1588,1598,1953,1983,2033, and 2145 begin new paragraphs in

1871 but are not marked in the MS. Since none of the lines precede or follow those not

in the MS, it is not a case of lost paragraphs, but of change of emphasis. The new

paragraph at 1.1598 isolates 1.1597 ("Whereof the war came which he knew must be. ")

emphasizing the emotions and tensions inherent in the line. By contrast in 1.1475,

Sagacity is in the middle of his speech, and there is no need for a new paragraph. The differences between 1871 and 1888-89 are also extensive. Since Browning did

not get the chance to edit the poem after it was published in 1888-89, it is important to

examine the differences in detail. I have listed the changes under various headings and

provided commentary where necessary. The headings are: (1) Minor Alterations, (2)

Corrections to 1871, (3) Mistakes in 1888-89, (4) Improvements in 1888-89. Whenever

examples from both versions are given, 1871 always appears first. I have used the

edition belonging to James Dykes Campbell for 1888-89.

(1) Minor Alterations

1.253 life; > life:

1.335 fairy-land > fairyland

1.390 world. > world,

1.470 straight-forward > straightforward

57 See notes to Fifine at the Fair in Penguin (II, p. 975) for another example of Greek quotations. Browning comments in the MS to the effect that his critics don't have enough Greek to realize these quotations are at their expense as well.

55

1.538 ocean-play-fellow > ocean-playfellow

1.546 the other side of you, in England, > the other side of you in England,

1.666 more > more,

1.688 That > Which

1.800 this > this,

1.821 sun-ward > sunward

1.992 .... > ... 1.1040 pieced out > pieced-out

1.1042 life-time > lifetime

1.1238 out, > out

1.1243 purpose > promise 1.1249 that > her

1.1250 did > should 1.1286 Such fancy may have tempted to be false,

Such fancy might have tempted him be false,

1.1294 Of good and wise means: trial to acquiesce Of good and wise endeavour - to acquiesce

U. 1324-26

To feed the flame their utmost, -e'en that block, He holds out breathlessly triumphant, -breaks Into some poisonous ore, its opposite,

To feed the flame, he saw that e'en the block Such perfect man holds out triumphant, breaks Into some poisonous ore, gold's opposite,

1.1328 The Adversary > Man's Adversary

1.1398 head > brain

1.1494 patient, > patient

1.1495 him, > him

1.1521 foundation-stone > foundation-stock

1.1527 all > her

1.1543 Well, -> Well:

1.1557 Hohenstiel-Schwangau > Hohenstiel-Schwangau's

1.1558 pate! > pate, 1.1559 what a flourish for > lends a flourish to 1.1582 or.. or.. > or... or...

56

1.1599 in > i'

1.1615 A peccant humour > Her peccant humours

1.1617 arms > fire

1.1622 weapon > weapon,

1.1646 was so > so was 1.1657 stop the wagging jaws > stop up wagging jaws

1.1668 victories, as vile > victories shall prove

1.1671 place, -> place - 1.1677 She, 'twixt a yawn, > That she, 'twixt yawn

1.1681 Hohenstiel-Schwanagau must have exercise Hohenstiel-Schwangau's arm needs exercise

1.1690 Cries Wisdom, "Cradle of our ancestors, Cries Wisdom: "Cradle of our ancestors,

1.1692 please, > please

1.1696 what > that

1.1707 commemorate. > commemorate:

1.1710 once more > again

1.1761 mocking > vaunting

1.1762 Only one upturned eye thy ball was gold, Only one eye thy ball was solid gold,

1.1768 May prick thee, prove the he thou art, at once! May prick thee, prove the glassy lie thou art!

1.1773 did'st > didst

1.1777 somethings, once, turned nothings, now, somethings once, turned nothings now,

1.1779 By scooping out the plain into a trench By scooping out a trench around their pile,

1.1780 their favourite > the mudwork

1.1786 must other learning die > save his must learning die

1.1787 And action perish? Why, our giant proves And action cease? Why, so our giant proves

1.1788 with > once

1.1789-90 "Let the whole race stand And try conclusions fairly! " he cries first.

Let the whole race stand For him to try conclusions fairly with!

57

1.1848 punishment. > punishment

1.1857 plough-share > ploughshare 1.1877 Being > Proving

1.1890 We >I

1.1986 half way > half-way

1.1988 hide > skin 1.2019 a willow > yon willow

1.2030 force that > force which 1.2032 Here is it still > Here's the world still

1.2033 Sagacity, > Sagacity

1.2034 one whisper > old whisper 1.2044 To > At

1.2045 And most discredited of all the modes And mode the most discredited of all,

1.2114 been, - > been:

(2) Corrections to 1871

1.244 toiled where was need, reposed As resolutely to the proper point, Braved sorrow, courted joy, to just one end:

[243-45]

[1888-89 has corrected the "to" of 1.244 to "at". ]

1.843 Hear ye not still -"Be Italy again? " Hear ye not still -'Be Italy again"?

1.970 life. ) > life).

[The parentheses end a sentence; the fun stop should be on the outside. ]

1.1147 Hans must not burn Kant' s house above his head, Because he cannot understand Kant's book: And still less must Hans' pastor bum Kant's self Because Kant understands some books too well.

[1147-50]

[1888-89 removes the comma after "head" in 1.1147. The comma is not needed. Lines 1147-48 parallel the same format as 11149-50, where there is, correctly, no comma at the end of 1.1149. ]

58

1.1253 property? > property -

[The question mark appears before the question is finished - see the explanation to 1.1259 below. ]

1.1259 master > Master

[The phrase is "Transformed to master whole and sole". The word is used as a noun, not a verb; the capitalization facilitates the correct reading. ]

sole: > sole?

[The correct place of the "? "of 1.1253.1

1.1323 were > are

[1888-89 corrects the tense. ]

1.1328 - what if we believe -? >- what if we believe? - 1.1333 The moralist that > The moralist who 1.1416 people > people's

[The word should be possessive. ]

1.1542 any how > anyhow

1.1592 the knaves that > the knaves who 1.1733 substitute

The dagger o' lath, while gay they sang and danced For that long dangerous sword they liked to feel,

[1732-34]

[1888-89 provides the comma needed after "danced". ]

1.1740 Understand! -war for war's sake, war for sake Understand! -war for war's sake, war for the sake

[1888-89 corrects the meter. ]

1.2020 Find out your best man, sure the son of him Will prove best man again, and, better still

[2020-21]

[1888-89 removes the unnecessary comma after "him". ]

59

(3) Mistakes in 1888-89

1.254 Subject to ultimate judgment, God's not man's

[The sentence is missing a full stop. ]

1.255 Well then, this settled, - take your tea, I beg,

[The line should begin a new paragraph. (It does so in MS and 1871. )]

1.462 Each shall have its orbit marked, But no more, -none impede the other's path In this wide world, - though each and all alike Save for me, fain would spread itself through space

[460-63]

[The comma after "alike" in 1.462 is missing. The comma would make for better grammar, and parallel the comma after "marked" in 1.460. ]

1.569 The more I thank God, like my grandmother, For making me a little lower than The angels, honour-clothed and glory crowned This is the honour, - that the thing I know,

[567-70]

[There is no punctuation at the end of 1.569, where something is clearly required. 1871 has a colon. ]

1.649 Now for the means thereto. Ah, confidence-

[In 1888-89 the line falls at top of the page (151), and (therefore? ) does not mark the new paragraph. (Pages 150 and 151 have equal number of lines. )]

1.1163 "Age! Age and experience bring discouragement, "

[In 1888-89 the line falls on top of the page (p. 171) and does not mark the new paragraph. ]

1.1227 Here he the dozen volumes of my life: (Did I say "lie? " the pregnant word will serve). Cut on to the concluding chapter, though!

[1226-28]

[1888-89 has moved the full stop to the outside of the parentheses. If the

colon of 1.1226 applied to 1.1227 to explain "the pregnant word", then no parentheses would be necessary. Line 1227 is a theatrical aside. The colon refers to 1.1228; therefore the full stop should stay inside the parentheses. Otherwise no punctuation is needed after "life". ]

60

1.1337 The moralist who walks with head erect I' the crystal clarity of air so long, Until a stumble, and the man's one mire! Philanthropy undoes the social knot With axe-edge, makes love room'twixt head and trunk: Religion-but, enough, the thing's too clear!

[1333-38]

[The colon at the end of 1.1337 is clearly wrong- "Religion", of the following line, is just the next item on the list. 1871 has an exclamation mark, which corresponds to punctuation of the passage. ]

1.1886 We were they who laid her low In the old bad day when Villany braved Truth And Right, and laughed "Henceforth, God deposed, Satan was set to rule for evermore r the world! "

[1883-87]

[1871 has "The Devil is to rule forevermore" for 1.1886. Whoever is doing the laughing-"We" or "Villany"-the tense should stay in the present. ]

(4) Improvements in 1888-89

1.514 However did the foolish pass for wise How did the foolish ever pass for wise

["However" is not used as a subordinating conjunction; 1888-89 makes that clear. ]

1.670 The ingenuities, each active force That turning in a circle on itself Looks neither up nor down but keeps the spot, Mere creature-like, and, for religion, works

[667-70]

[1888-89 has a comma after "creature-like", which makes for smoother reading. ]

1.855 Nor tick of the insect turning tapestry Which a queen's finger traced of old, to dust;

[854-55]

[Line 855 in 1871 is: "To dust, which a queen's finger traced of old,, " which reads as if the queen traced her finger in the dust, not on the tapestry. ]

1.1010 You shuffle through your part as best you may, You shuffle through your part as best you can,

61

[1888-89 uses the more familiar "as best you can", which makes better sense, since the relation is to ability, not allowance. ]

1.1242 As that his fellow-servants one and all Were - mildly to make mention - knaves or fools,

[1241-42]

[1871 has "mildly make we mention" in 1.1242.1888-89 is better since it maintains the historian's third-person narrative, and avoids personal interjection, which may be considered bad form for a historian. ]

1.1275 Cry "Mistress of your servants, these and me

[1781 has "the" for "your", which makes the appellation, taken by itself, not necessarily a compliment-as in "head-servant". ]

1.1292 Now, aiming at right end by foolish means, Now, aiming at right ends by foolish means,

1.1295 privilege -> privilege,

[Better punctuation: the comma corresponds to another at the end of the following line, enclosing a clause. ]

1.1361 His > Head's

[Avoids confusion with "his" of 1.1353. ]

1.1524 Deaf to who cried the world would tumble in Deaf to who cried that earth would tumble in

[The world crumbles, earth tumbles. ]

1.1540 Will have to pay the price, in God's good time Which does not always fall on Saturday

[1540-41]

[1888-89 has removed the comma after "time" to avoid connecting "which" with "price". ]

1.1553 I' the boldness and bravado to the world. By boldness and bravado to the world:

[1888-89 corrects the meter. Also, a colon is better punctuation, since the lines that follow give a sample of the "boldness and bravado". ]

1.1555 The old saucy writing, "Grunt thereat who may, So shall things be, for such my pleasure is Hohenstiel-Schwangau's. " How that reads in Rome

62

[1555-57]

[1888-89 has removed the em dash after "writing, " in 1.1555 to prevent the mistake of seeing it paired with the em dash of 1.1556. ]

1.1641 Then the world must give us leave Strike right and left to exercise our arm

[1640-411

Then the world must give us leave To strike right, left, and exercise our arm

[1640-41]

[1888-89 makes it clear immediately that it is not "the world" which is doing the striking. ]

1.1720 Stolen away long since. Climb to study there Obsolete long since. Climb to study there

[1888-89 slightly changes the meaning, but corrects the meter. ]

There are two mistakes in 1871 that have not been corrected in 1888-89. Line 1953's

"In a free state! " needs two closing quotation marks, but both versions provide only

one. A problem of a similar nature occurs in the passage containing the Prince's

analogy of the "fierce tribe, castled on the mountain-peak" [1685]. The passage

provides two closing quotation marks (at lines 1698 and 1713) for the quotation, "Cries

Wisdom: 'Cradle of our ancestors, " begun in 1.1690. It is not at all clear from a reading of the passage whether one of the closing quotation marks should be removed, or a new

opening quotation mark needs to be introduced into the passage 58

The one substantial difference between the two versions is Browning's inclusion of the nine lines 2135-43 in 1888-89 to explain the mistake of attributing a legend

associated with the shrine near lake Nemi to the shrine near the river Clitumnus:

The little wayside temple, half-way down To a mild river that makes oxen white Miraculously, un-mouse-colours skin, Or so the Roman country people dream! I view that sweet small shrub-embedded shrine On the declivity, was sacred once To a transmuting Genius of the land, Could touch and turn its dunnest natures bright.

58 Penguin provides the second quotation mark at 1.1953, and removes the closing quotation mark of 1.1698.

63

-Since Italy means the Land of the Ox, we know. Well, how was it the due succession fell From priest to priest who ministered i' the cool Calm fare o' the Clitumnian god?

[1986-971

The legend was that each new priest of the temple achieved his position by killing his

predecessor. The Clitumnus river had been famous for the (sacrificial) white cattle

maintained on its banks, 59 and Browning was happy to suggest the archeological

implications of the felicitous correspondence between the cattle and the "Land of the

Ox". He had already asked Mrs Orr to point out the mistake in her Handbook but,

having the opportunity, decided to use the mistake to his advantage. 60 After the Prince

has stated that "somehow words deflect" [2133] the painful truth, he suddenly

remembers his mistake:

"Deflect" indeed! Nor merely words from thoughts But names from facts: "Clitumnus" did I say? As if it had been his ox-whitening wave Whereby folk practised that grim cult of old - The murder of their temple's priest by who Would qualify for his succession. Sure- Nemi was the true lake's style. Dream had need Of the ox-whitening piece of prettiness And so confused names, well known once awake.

[2135-43]

Having already confessed, in Mrs Orr's book, that the mistake was his, he could not leave the responsibility to the Prince. Browning may have thought this a fine trick to fix

his mistake without having to lose his archeological finesse. But the addition seems

anticlimactic and contrived. Browning's public acknowledgment of his mistake marks

the change as an author's intrusion into a dramatic work. The sudden shift from self-

confession to self-chastisement might weaken belief in the spontaneity and the truth of

the Prince's confession. It is improbable that someone who has just confessed to himself

that his whole life and career has been much more of a he than truth, would bother with

such a minor point. He has already confessed to having used "the whole armoury o'

the tongue" [2131] in defending his case. To follow with the subtle image of white-

washing ("ox-whitening"), and then, to make comprehension certain, immediately to

59 Penguin, I, p. 1183, n. 1987.

64

reiterate "Dream had need / Of the ox-whitening" is redundant and heavy-handed (on

Browning's part). On the other hand, one may argue that the correction can be justified

within the framework of the poem in showing that the Prince is done with soul-

searching. He uses the instance as a reminder of his concern with "facts" and his

awareness and self-control even in such an emotional moment. He also gives an

immediate example of how words "deflect", by countering the pain of his confession

through his rueful self-admonition. With the mood lightened and the Prince back in

form, the reader is made ready for the ending and the Prince's final gambit.

By contrast, the Prince's misquotation of Kants Kritik der reinen Vernunft i has been

changed quietly. 1871 quotes the title as "The Pure Critique of Reason" [1111]; 1888-89

has the correct translation, "The Critique of Pure Reason". 1871's version is dearly a

mistake since there is no implication that the Prince is being ironic in misquoting the

title. He has just, very sincerely, stated that philosophers have their valuable place in

the scheme of things:

No, my brave thinkers, whom I recognize, Gladly, myself the first, as, in a sense, All that our world's worth, flower and fruit of man! Such minds myself award supremacy Over the common insignificance, When only Mind's in question.

[1101-06]

Ideally, both mistakes would have been corrected in the same manner.

Currently, the only modem edited version of the poem is the Penguin. It is the most

prevalent edition in use given its size, price, and availability. Penguin uses 1888-89 as

copy-text, and its revisions are instructive in showing the problems facing an editor of

the poem. 1888-89 is given first:

pass'd > passed Sphynx > Sphinx

't is, 't was > 'tis, 'twas

mid >'mid Thro' > Through

[First line of the motto]

[8,91 [Fifteen instances]

[726,750,789]

[1428]

60 Alexandra Sutherland Orr, Handbook to Browning's Works, 6th edn (Bell, 1892), p. 170, n. 1.

65

Demonstrate > Demonstrate [55,1468]

contemplate > contemplate [360]

carved > carved [687]

baulk > balk [922]

bald-pate > bald pate [1422]

after course > after-course [988]

vi lany > villainy [1271,1457,1884]

wide! " > wide! [1698]

state > state" [1953]

Except for the last two corrections (discussed above), the changes listed are very

minor and based on editorial policy. The treatment, however, is not thorough or

dependable. Penguin's policy on accents, for example, is that a grave accent (')

pronounces the syllable, while an acute accent (') stresses the syllable 61 But

"ministered" in 1.19%, "From priest to priest who ministered i' the cool", needs a grave

accent on the second "i", which is not provided. Or, the grave accent in "carved", in 1.

687, "Pillared roof and carved screen, and what care I? -" only increases the meter. The

change needed is "Pillared".

There are, moreover, a group of changes made in Penguin that are based on a

personal reading of the poem which incorporates not only 1871 and 1888-89, but also

the MS-even though 1888-89 is used as copy-text. The changes are not consistent. Line 255 begins a new paragraph in Penguin and 1871, but not in 1888-89 (p. 135) or the

MS. Lines 902 (p. 160) and 1112 (p. 168) begin new paragraphs in Penguin and MS, but

not in 1888-89 and 1871. Line 1413 begins a new paragraph in Penguin, 1871, and MS (it

falls on top of the page in 1888-89). 62

In another instance, Penguin ignores the authority of all three of the main texts.

Line 2072 ("And meanwhile use the allotted minute... "), marks one of the most important moments in the poem. It is when, in mid-speech, the Prince/Louis

Napoleon, worried about the success of his dynasty, tired and no longer in the mood,

wanting to stop the game, is interrupted by the chiming of the clock. With the next line

the scene has shifted back to the Residenz. The shift occurs during 1.2072: the Prince is

61 Penguin, I, p. xvii. 62 See Penguin, I, p. xvii for the editorial policy on paragraphing and the problems specific to Browning.

66

hearing the chimes as he is speaking the words, "And meanwhile use the allotted

minute... " It is appropriate that the line should have no closing quotation mark, as in

MS, 1871, and 1888-89. The Head-servant has begun the speech, but it is the Prince, at

the Residenz, who speaks the last line. Penguin (following all subsequent editors)

provides a closing quotation mark.

My other point of disagreement with Penguin's eclectic approach has to do with the

authority of the MS. In 1.539, Penguin uses the MS's "having" instead of the "leaving"

of 1888-89 (and 1871) because the MS's choice "seems more likely and, if anything,

superior" 63 This sets a dangerous precedent. There are other instances where the MS

reading is preferable. For example the MS alone capitalizes "architect" [698] in

reference to God and "concurrent" [935] in reference to Christ. To take the matter a step

further, there is the issue of how far into the MS one may delve. Line 703 originally

read "Permitted you, and pressing hard on me: ", before it was changed to the 1871 and

1888-89 version of "Permitted you, imperative on me; '. The MS line reveals more about

the Prince's state of mind, suggesting the pressure he is under; especially when the next

line is "Were mine the best means? Did I work aright", further emphasizing the colon of

the MS.

Comparing 1871 and 1888-89 has shown that the alterations, for the most part,

relate to details and minor adjustments. There is no change in the structure of the

poem, or in the attitude towards the Prince -which could have been possible since one

may tend towards leniency with time. Some of the changes are no doubt the result of

Browning having forgotten, after seventeen years, what his precise intention had been.

He would sometimes say: "Well! I know that the poem had a meaning to me when I

wrote it, but what it was I cannot now say. I have passed from it long ago. "64 Even

though this was in response to queries about his poems, there is an element of truth in

it. Some of the changes in punctuation, especially at the end of lines, can well be due to

printers' error. In 1887 Browning wrote:

My experience of printers' error is considerable. Presupposing due care on the corrector's part; any subsequent misplacement of the types is readjusted by the printer as best he can, without the troublesome reference to the "Reader". Again; writers of verse are

63 Penguin, I, p. xviii. 64 William A. Knight, Retrospects (Smith, Elder, 1904), hereafter Retrospects, p. 96.

67

particularly subject to an accident of less importance in prose - the dropping out of the stops at the end of the line; which, omitted, makes the sense (or nonsense) run into the following one. This occurs again and again in my own books, through no fault of mine, and is

never noticed; so acute are the critics! 65

Browning especially blamed the printers who had worked on his early poems. He

claimed that the reason Sordello seemed unintelligible was because the printers had

changed his punctuation. 6 Kelley and Peterson use this evidence to dismiss the use of

first editions for copy-text in general: "Nor can a strong argument be made on behalf of

the first editions of his poems, which were sometimes printed very carelessly. "67 In the

case of Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, both 1871 and 1888-89 have their strengths and

weaknesses; but since neither version can be said to be superior, principle, not text, will

have to designate the choice of copy-text. There is evidence to suggest that Browning,

himself, believed that the use of the first edition, supported by editorial notes, is the best

manner in which to present a poet's work and his poetic development. When William

Knight was about to begin preparing an edition of Wordsworth, he wrote to Browning

asking his advice on the preferable choice of copy-text. Browning replied:

You pay me a compliment in caring for my opinion, but, such as it is, a very decided one it must be. On every account, your method of giving the original text, and subjoining in a note the variations, each with its proper date, is incontestably preferable to any other. It would be so, if the variations were even improvements -there would be pleasure as well as profit in seeing what was good grow visibly better. 68

(15 Retrospects, p. 91. 66 Ibid. For an account of the conflict between Victorian authors and printers in matters of punctuation see Dooley, pp. 10-13. 67 Final Revisions, p. 88. 68 9 July 1880, Retrospects, p. 76.

68

Chapter 3 Form

Select any Drama you please, which comprises the history of a Thought or a Passion,, &, putting yourself in the position of the author, view it as a conception of your own & consider that, having revel this History, you are about to give it a permanent existence ... to reduce it to language. Do you desire it shall be Read not Acted? Follow throughout the whole, only what Raleigh calls the "mind of the piece, " as a purple thread through a varied woof... discarding as unnecessary, the external machinery which would develop it, & only preserving the Result which was to be traced, however dimly throughout-Then expand this simple mood-& you will have a poem like my own... shall it be Acted not Read-follow the contrary course ... make prominent & efficient the influencing incidents & persons... make that inferred only, which in the Poem was detailed

... & you have a Drama again.

Robert Browningl

Who hears the poem, therefore, sees the play. Balaustion's Adventure [335]

Roma A. King, with Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau and Fifine at the Fair in mind, writes that when Browning "fails in these poems it is less because he violates the monologue form, as many of his critics have assumed, than because he does not always achieve a new structure capable of expressing his poetic intention". In this chapter on the formal

characteristics of the poem I would like to show that with Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau

Browning does achieve a new structure which successfully expresses, in this case, a dramatic intention, and to trace that structure's ancestry. 2

1 To Andre Victor Amedee de Ripert-Monclar, 2 March 1835, Correspondence, III, pp. 126-27. 2 The Focusing Artifice (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1968), p. 168. I have found two instances where it is suggested that the poem should not be viewed as a dramatic monologue. Thomas J. Collins, "The Poetry of Robert Browning: A Proposal for Reexamination", Texas Studies in Literature and Language, 15 (1973), 325-40 (pp. 339-40). Michael D. Manson, "Browning's Experiments with Form and Technique, 1871-1875" (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Western Ontario, 1980). Collins points out the need for a new approach to the poem but does not elaborate. Manson reads the poem as a "day-dream", occurring completely within the mind of the Prince: an unsuccessful attempt by Browning "to portray consciousness without having to rely on dialogue, setting, time and action" (p. 18, p. iii). My view, as shown below, is the complete opposite. Two other dissertations deal directly with the poem: Allan C. Dooley, "Browning's 'Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau': An Annotated Edition with an Introductory Study of Napoleon III in Victorian Literature" (Ph. D. dissertation, Northwestern University, 1970) and Genevieve E. Wiggins, "The Brownings and Napoleon III: A Study in Political Poetry" (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Tennessee, 1973). Neither is concerned with the form of the poem. Their approach is mainly introductory.

69

It is the popular view that Browning reached the height of his poetic virtuosity with his dramatic monologues, culminating in The Ring and the Book. His early career can be

seen as attempts at investigating and consolidating his dramatic sensibility and,

specifically, the poetic form best suited to his particular dramatic talent of

making speak, myself kept out of view, The very man as he was wont to do, And leaving you to say the rest for him. 3

He wrote of his first published work, Pauline; A Fragment of a Confession, as "my earliest

attempt at 'poetry always dramatic in principle, and so many utterances of so many imaginary persons, not mine, ' which I have since written" 4 Browning's dramatic talent

lay in exposing his speakers through their "utterances" -genuine speech as a natural

and, revealingly, at times unconscious result of the speakers' personalities and

characters; the situation in which the speakers functioned providing an excuse, a

setting, a trigger, for their speech; the reader of the monologue often being like an

eavesdropper who can hear only one side of the conversation. Browning referred to

this method of exposition as "Action in Character, rather than Character in Action",

where the emphasis is less on plot and more on the emotional state of the speaker. 5 In

the preface to his second publication, Paracelsus, he stated his position in detail:

it is an attempt.. . to reverse the method usually adopted by writers whose aim it is to set forth any phenomenon of the mind or the passions, by the operation of persons and events; and that, instead of having recourse to an external machinery of incidents to create and evolve the crisis I desire to produce, I have ventured to display somewhat minutely the mood itself in its rise and progress, and have suffered the agency by which it is influenced and determined, to be generally discernible in its effects alone, and subordinate throughout, if not altogether excluded. 6

Browning's justification for disregarding plot (the "external machinery of incidents") or, in other words, "Character in Action", in the case of Paracelsus was that he had

endeavoured to write a poem, not a drama; the canons of the drama are well known, and I cannot but think that, inasmuch as they have

3 Sordello [I, 15-17] 4 LAEP, 1, p. 20. 5 preface to Strafford: A Tragedy (Longman, 1837). 6LAEP, I, p. 113.

70

immediate regard to stage representation, the peculiar advantages they hold out are really such only so long as the purpose for which they were at first instituted is kept in view .7

Paracelsus was a closet drama and since the emphasis was on the speaker's "mood itself

in its rise and progress" Browning felt justified in neglecting stagecraft. He ran into

difficulty when he applied the same principle to his stage plays, which did have

"immediate regard to stage representation". The emphasis on the workings of the mind

and the emotional state of the characters functioned well in bringing them to life but, in

turn, resulted in unexciting dialogue and tedious plot. The famous tragic actor, William

Macready, had asked Browning to write a play for him. After reading Strafford

Macready wrote in his diary: "I find more grounds for exception than I had anticipated. I had been too much carried away by the truth of character to observe the meanness of

plot. "8 By the time of the final rehearsals Macready was demoralized:

In all the historical plays of Shakespeare, the great poet has only introduced such events as act on the individuals concerned, and of which they are themselves a part; the persons are all in direct relation to each other, and the facts are present to the audience. But in Browning's play we have a long scene of passion-upon what? A plan destroyed, by whom or for what we know not, and a parliament dissolved, which merely seems to inconvenience Strafford in his arrangements. There is a sad want of judgement and tact in the whole composition. Would it were over! It must fail -and it grieves me to think that I am so placed. 9

Browning's plots did not improve, and his next play, King Victor and King Charles,

contained an even greater imbalance between words and action. He did try to solve the

problem (as he understood it) by providing an exotic setting and on-stage deaths in The Return of the Druses. He informed Macready:

I have written a spick and span new Tragedy (a sort of compromise between my own notion and yours-as I understand it, at least) and will send it to you if you care to be bothered so far. There is action in it, drabbing, stabbing, et autres gentillesses, -who knows, but the Gods may make me good even yet? 10

7 Ibid. 8 The journal of William Charles Macready. 1832-1851, ed. by John C. Trewin (Longman, 1967), hereafter Macready, p. 84. 9 Macready, pp. 95-96. 10 [? 27 July 18401 Correspondence, IV, p. 293.

71

But despite the powerful themes of rebellion and sin, the action in the play is still the

outcome of character, and of secondary importance-the heroine (as in A Blot in the

'Scutcheon) expires from overwhelming emotions. His final stage play, Colombe's

Birthday, is similar to King Victor and King Charles in terms of structure and treatment.

That and a too long first act show no improvement in stagecraft. Browning could not

understand the weaknesses of his stage plays, the problems of having long soliloquies. He could not understand that internalizing conflicts, and making the mind the scene of

action can be theatrically tedious 11 Thus in order to "make prominent & efficient" his

concept of "the influencing incidents & persons", Strafford's trial is narrated, not dramatized; nor does one see King Victor's attempt to regain power (it is instructive to

compare King Victor's surrender of power with that of Lear). At some point Browning

must have realized the need for a change of direction. His next work was Dramatic

Romances and Lyrics, and Luria and A Soul's Tragedy were closet plays. 12

Browning stopped writing for the stage, but I do not think he ever lost interest in

writing for the stage or in finding a form that would allow for a theatrical rendition of his characters. In "A bight Woman" (1855) he (perhaps ruefully) wrote, "Robert

Browning, you writer of plays" [55]. In "One Word More", his conclusion to Men and Women, he told EBB that his characters were roles he had "fashioned" in order to "enter" into and use to express his sentiments:

Love, you saw me gather men and women, Live or dead or fashioned by my fancy, Enter each and all, and use their service, Speak from every mouth, - the speech, a poem.

[129-32]

The humourist Arthur W. A Beckett recalled a luncheon at Browning's friend, Mrs Skirrow's, where Browning was trying to persuade the comic actor john Toole to play in

a farce Browning was promising he would write for him. The Inn Album (1875) is a drama in all but name. According to Alfred Domett Browning "had intended originally to write a tragedy on the subject, but hearing Tennyson was engaged upon one (Queen Mary) gave up the idea". Towards the end of his life Browning once told Katharine

11 The most recent criticism of Browning's plays can be found in Lynn M. Fulton, "The Standard of Flesh and Blood: Brownings Problems with Staged Drama", Victorian Poetry, 35 (1997), 157-72. For a sympathetic discussion of the reasons for the failure of Browning's dramas see James P. McCormick, "Robert Browning and the Experimental Drama", PMLA, 68 (1953), 982-91 (pp. 984- 86). 12 Landor thought that the plot of Luria (which was dedicated to him) was weak. He wrote to Forster in 1845: "The sudden close of Luria is very grand; but preceding it, I fear there is rather too much of argumentation and reflection. It is continued too long after the Moor has taken the poison", Forster, II, p. 425.

72

Bronson: "Shall I whisper to you my ambition and my hope? It is to write a tragedy

better than anything I have done yet. I think of it constantly. "13 Pauline, was to have

been the first part in a collection "in pursuance of a foolish plan ... which had for its

object the enabling me to assume & realize I know not how many different

characters" 14 He realized a version of the "foolish plan" thirty-six years later with The

Ring and the Book. But with Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, I believe, Browning created a

form which incorporates "Action in Character" and is stage-worthy, unhindered by the

"external machinery of incidents to create and evolve the crisis" -a one-man play. I

would like to show that the poem, when viewed as a play, substantiates its theatricality

and has an internalized plot. Consider that at the end of "My Last Duchess" it transpires that the Duke is not in

his castle showing the painting of his ex-wife to the envoy of his soon to-be father-in-

law; that he is, in fact, alone in a carriage, for example, on his way to that meeting, and

all that has occurred within the poem has been the result of the Duke's imagination;

that the real setting of the poem is not the Castle at Ferrara, but the carriage; and that

the Duke is contemplating a scenario and rehearsing a course of action in anticipation of

the meeting with the envoy. This would alter the poem in two significant ways. Since

the Duke is speaking alone and there is no real interlocutor against whom he can react,

the form of the poem would no longer be a dramatic monologue. The reader of the

poem would no longer be faced with the Duke's extemporaneous reaction in response

to the envoy's query; the reader would now be faced with a contrived scene created by

a very self-aware character. 15 Second, the primary emphasis of interpretation of the

Duke's character would now necessarily be on the Duke's reading of himself because he

is directing himself in acting a part-in other words, not so much the action, but the

decision to act in such a manner functions "to create and evolve the crisis". Judgement

then would depend less on seeing the Duke in action and more on the psychological

makeup of his character which determines his role-playing: a case of "Action in

Character, rather than Character in Action". This is not to say that the usual

methodology of interpretation applied to dramatic monologue is completely discarded.

It finds application in possible circumstances where the Duke may become so immersed

in the situation he has created and the role he is playing as to lose control and sight

momentarily of his original intentions and act as if in a real setting.

13 Arthur W. A Beckett, Recollections of a Humourist (Pitman, 1907), pp. 184-85. The Diary of Alfred Domett: 1872-1885, ed. by Ernest A. Horsman (Oxford University Press, 1953), hereafter Domett,

p. 163. Katherine C. Bronson, "Browning in Asolo", Century Magazine, 59 (1900), 920-31 (p. 930). 14MEP, I, p. 15. 15 Those who prefer to think that the Duke has guided the envoy to the covered portrait on purpose, may consider Lippo Lippi, about to leave his "prison", imagining how he would act if

caught by the night-watch.

73

This is the trick Browning uses in Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau. Towards the end of

the poem (though there are prior hints) it becomes evident that the Prince is not in a

room in Leicester Square talking about himself and his career to a prostitute; he is, in

fact, alone in his quarters in Paris, in the process of making a very important decision on

a matter of state, and he has been talking to himself. The poem is not a dramatic

monologue; it is a soliloquy disguised as a dramatic monologue through the pretence of

a real interlocutor.

By employing such a disguise, Browning allows not only for "Action in Character"

(which is the feature of soliloquy since action is internalized), but also for the possibility

of different roles and characters within the same poem, since the Prince is free to use his

imagination to create any setting and assume any role that he wishes. The conflict of

accommodating "Action in Character" and the "external machinery of incidents",

which had caused the failure of Browning's plays, disappears. The Prince uses the

dramatic monologue form to create and enact his imaginary roles, points of view, and

settings -a form that is ideally suited to this purpose - and they in turn serve to display

"the mood itself in its rise and progress" within the play, leading up to the crisis. The

poem can best be understood as a play within a play. The Prince's soliloquy is the play

Browning is writing; the simulated dramatic monologue is that of the Prince. At the

end of the Prince's performance, "Out Homering Homer! " [2081], Browning hints at the

nature of the poem by this allusion to the most famous case of a play within a play: Hamlet warning the Player that over-acting "out-herods Herod: pray you avoid it" [III.

2.15-16]. The affinity between the two works is such that out Homering Homer cannot but remind the reader of out-heroding Herod. Hamlet also has trouble with action, has

the company of a woman who lisps [III. 1.142] and (he thinks) belongs in a "nunnery"

[i. e. a brothel].

Before proceeding any further I would like to define precisely how I apply the word

"play" to the poem. I am insisting on reading most of the poem-from the beginning to

"And meanwhile use the allotted minute" [2070] - during which LaYs is the Prince's

ostensible audience-as the Prince's play. I justify this view because of the deliberate

notion, on the part of the Prince, of a performance and an audience. To me that is a

sufficient definition of a play. As I will explain below, the first twenty-five lines of the

poem depict the Prince in the process of planning his play and deciding the purpose

and setting of his performance. The reader then reads the poem as the performance is

being spontaneously created and acted. One clue to the setting and form of the poem is provided by the temporality of

"cigar" and "sands"; they indicate the unity of dramatized time and place. "Because

night draws on, and the sands increase" and "permit me the cigar" echo the lines at the

end of the poem, "One, - Two, three, four, five - yes, five the pendule warns! " [2073] and

74

"My reverie concludes, as dreaming should, / With daybreak: nothing done and over

yet, / Except cigars! " [2137-89]. Whether the scene takes place at the Residenz or in

Leicester Square, the space-time dramatization is maintained by the correspondence of

the lines, by the falling sands and the "pendule" and the smoking cigars: in both

situations time is constant-he is smoking the same cigars and hearing the striking of

the same clock. References and allusions to time and smoking are constant reminders of

the real setting and form of the poem. "Let us not risk the whiff of my cigar" [438];

"There's folly for you at this time of day! " [577]; "Frolicking round this final puff I

send" [1215]; "I' the better world where goes tobacco-smoke! " [1225]; "Because the little

hours begin to strike" [1229]. These references are necessary to show that the Prince's

play actually takes place in real time, and not in a mental state where time is not

necessarily constant. As the Prince ironically hints : "Once for all, let me talk as if I

smoked / Yet in the Residenz" [132-33].

The notion of seeing the whole poem as a play is less straightforward. There are

three points which taken together, I believe, provide enough validation to justify my

view. Apart from the affinity with Hamlet and the suggestion of a play within a play,

soliloquy is theatrical. The form's natural suitability for stage representation becomes

clear when compared with dramati c monologue. A dramatic monologue is designed to

be visualized by the reader and contains aids to that effect ("Nay, well go / Together

down, Sir! "; "Draw round my bed: is Anselm keeping back? "). 16 Performing a dramatic

monologue on stage would force the real interlocutor to act as a mute or as an actor in a

pantomime. The effect might well distracts attention from the speaker and even cause hilarity. An example of such a piece is William Whitehead's Fatal Constancy; or, Love in

Tears (1754). He describes it thus:

The following sketch of a tragedy, tho' interrupted with breaks and et caeteras (which are left to be supplied by the fancy of the reader) is nevertheless a continued soliloquy spoken by the hero of the piece, and may be performed by one actor, with all the starts, graces, and theatrical attitudes in practice at present 17

Whitehead's use of the word "tragedy" is ironic. His sketch is a funny Hogarthian

tableau where the hero, a pathetic Werther-figure, emotionally overacts in company of

various silent actors and eventually commits suicide. With Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau

16 "My Last Duchess" [53-54]; "The Tomb at St. Praxed's" ["The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church"] [2]. 17 William Whitehead, Plays and Poems, 2 vole (I. Dodsley, 1774), 11, p. 257. Mentioned in Benjamin W. Fuson, "Browning and His English Predecessors in the Dramatic Monolog", State University of Iowa Studies, 8 (1948), 7-% (p. 65).

75

the case is different. A performance of the poem is easy to visualize and effective in

both its modes since a soliloquy is naturally theatrical and during the dramatic

monologue portion of the poem the Prince is consciously and deliberately acting. The

visual aids in his speech are perfectly valid since both the reader and the Prince are

visualizing the scene. The issue of the imaginary setting and interlocutor can be

resolved. For the duration of the dramatic monologue the stage can be lit in a focused

manner, hiding the walls and peripheral decoration (which would divulge the room is

in a palace, not a lodgings). Laie can be hidden in a high armchair, with its back to the

audience, allowing the prince to maintain the illusion. 18 At the end, as the Prince is

divulging the nature of the trick, the chair can be turned around (or over) and the lighting expanded to the whole room to support the denouement and the true state of the situation.

The notion of staging Browning's dramatic works is not far-fetched. Shortly after the publication of The Ring and the Book, Browning had met the actor, Helena Faucit, in

the park. She wrote in her diary, the following day, that Browning had said to her, "Ah,

if I could have had you to act my Pompilia! "19 In his own readings of his monologues, he would always stress their dramatic nature. William M. Rossetti once noted that

unlike Tennyson, who liked to render his poems as a "rhythmical whole", Browning's

delivery "had more affinity to that of an actor, laying stress on all the light and shade of the composition-its touches of character, its conversational points, its dramatic give-

and-take". t Victorian readers, I think, would not have found the notion too far-

fetched, since they already had had a taste of what to expect from Dickens' very

popular Readings which, in my opinion, were one-man plays in all but name.

Without any aid from costume, or any extravagance of motion, by the mere power of facial expression, he impersonates the different characters of his stories, and brings them ideally, but vividly, before the spectator's mind. Mr. Dickens has invented a new medium for amusing an English audience, and merits the gratitude of an intelligent public.

18 There is a watercolour by Jean-Baptiste Fortune de Fournier (1798-1864) in the Louvre of Louis Napoleon's study at the Tuileries, reproduced in Joanna Richardson, La Vie Parisfenne (Hamish Hamilton, 1971), p. 45. "There was a deep chair, upholstered in leather, for visitors with whom he wanted to talk at his leisure" (p. 49). 19 She added that, while reading the poem, "this speech fills me with most grateful happy thoughts", 13 February 1869, Theodore Martin, Helena Faucit (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1900), pp. 301-02. Helena Faucit (Lady Martin) was a leading Shakespearean actor and a favourite of Brownings. She had played in Strafford (1837), A Blot in the 'Scutcheon (1843), and Colombe's Birthday (1853) (pp. 45-46, pp. 104-05, pp. 237-41). She is mentioned in Dearest Isa, p. 109, n. 8, George Barrett, p. 185, n. 2. She is also the addressee of an unpublished early Browning poem, ,, There's a sisterhood in words", LAEP, II, pp. 174-75. 20 William M. Rossetti, "Portraits of Robert Browning", Magazine of Art (1890), 181-88 (p. 182).

76

As described in the ILN. n His own account of his emotional state during his

performances is certainly what any actor aspires to: "I have been twice goaded and

lifted out of myself into a state that astonished me almost as much as the audience. "22

The Prince is not an easy study, and would require strong commitment by the actor.

The solitary setting allows for a degree of honesty impossible with a real interlocutor,

but the verbal games-playin& and human nature's reluctance to admit guilt, create a

complicated situation. On the one hand, the Prince claims,

I must tell you simple truth - Telling were else not worth the whiff o' the weed I lose for the tale's sake.

[289-91]

On the other hand, Browning points out, "in a soliloquy, a man makes the most of his

good intentions and sees great excuse in them-far beyond what our optics discover! "23

The actor must try to feel his way around the subtlest of politicians who, during the late

hours, is pondering painful memories like the contempt of the royal families of Europe

(refusing him a bride) and the possibility of his own biological illegitimacy. When the

Prince declares, "Here lie the dozen volumes of my life" [1226], is the emphasis on "lie"

or "Here"; and if the latter, where is he pointing? The actor has to decide how to speak

such lines as, "Hear what I never was, but might have been / I' the better world where

goes tobacco-smoke! " [1224-25], and "the life I might have led, / But did not, -all the

worse for earth and me" [2085-86]. Are these lines spoken sarcastically, self-mockingly,

regretfully? The Prince has shown a remarkable ability to alter his mood rapidly. The

first of the two examples occurs before the Thiers-Hugo exercise, the second, after.

2 131 July 1858, p. 100. 22 To his sister-in-law, Georgina Hogarth, 1 February 1863, after readings at the embassy in Paris. The Letters of Quarles Dickens, ed. by Graham Storey and others (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1%5-), hereafter Storey, X, p. 205. I have found no evidence that Browning ever attended any of Dickens' Readings, but he certainly knew about them. The Paris Readings had been a sensational success and publicized in the press. L'Illustration noted Dickens' acting ability and wondered if "Garrick has transmitted to him this magical power" (p. 205, n. 4). On one occasion Dickens had written inviting Browning to dinner and telling him about his planned Readings, "Thirty times, in London and elsewhere". If Browning could not attend those dates, "I give warning that in that

case I shall exact a promise from you to come to St. James's Hall one evening in April or May,

and hear 'David Copperfield, ' my own particular favourite", 12 March 1866, The Letters of Charles Dickens, ed by Georgina Hogarth and Mamie Dickens, 3 vole (Chapman and Hall, 1880-82), III, p. 227. 23 American Friends, p. 167. Browning is referring to Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau.

77

Should the delivery of the first be sarcastic - and the second, regretful - because the

Prince still has hopes of exoneration before embarking on his last line of defence? 24

In the play the Prince is writer, director, actor, audience, and critic. He writes and directs his monologue, plays all the parts, and assesses his performance. He is first

shown in the act of deciding on the game - the play he wishes to write - and choosing

the parts and setting. Casting himself as "Sphynx", his obvious interlocutor would have to be Oedipus; but he changes his mind and picks L, aYs. He then changes the

setting accordingly: "Bright Corinth, not dull Thebes". He is concerned with being

comprehensible: "Am I dear? "; "Is this much easy to be understood / At first glance? "

[287-88]. The play is his "Autobiography" [1220]. The Thiers-Hugo exercise is to be his

final "chapter" [1228]. The exercise follows very soon after the Laocoön simile where he

half jokingly gives leave to the one perspicacious observer "to write my history" [1193].

(The line's purpose may be simply to provide a transition to the exercise, but the line

can also suggest that the Prince has just then been inspired to provide such an history. )

Similarly, since he is alone, he is his own audience. When he addresses LaYs as "my

audience both / And arbitress" [1199-1200], he is addressing himself. He does not have

a real interlocutor on whom he can judge the effect of his arguments; he can only

pretend ("if i read smile aright' [12091) based on his own imagination. Hence the

repetition of important points and issues, and the change in the mode of narration-as

if he is preparing for an examination, which, in a way, he is.

24 A fine description of Louis Napoleon's mannerism is left by Sir Charles Gavan Duffy (1816- 1903), Irish nationalist, founder-editor of the Nation, MP and future Prime Minister of Victoria. In April-May 1865 he, along with Browning, was one of the regular guests at Forster's Sunday luncheons. In his memoirs he records a letter from his sub-editor, john Cashel Hoey, of a meeting with Louis Napoleon in 1864: "1 believe I last wrote to you from Paris in April, and if I remember rightly I told you I was going to see the Emperor the next week. He gave me a very long private audience - that is to say, of thirty-five minutes - during which we both talked with uncommon activity. I need hardly tell you he talks well, clearly, easily, unaffectedly, and to the point. This

you have heard, as well as that when he speaks to strangers in private audience he throws off the Emperor very completely. I was prepared for all this, and still the man's manner amazed me. I have seldom seen the face of a man of mature age over which expression fleeted so fast, or which smiled so often in five minutes' time. He laughed until his great moustache broke into a jungle of jolly individual hairs at one or two things I happened to say, which were perhaps humorous, but

not sufficiently so for transportation to Australia at this time of day. I had the idea that I was to deal with a Sphinx, and a man in a mask, and all that. I came away, sure at all events, that that reading of the riddle is rubbish. Physically he seems to be at present very strong -a clean saffron skin, nerves perfectly taut, not a bloodshot vein in his eye. But he smoked all the time he was talking to me, and I believe smoked all day long. He is very small. You know my height. Our

noses were within a foot of each other all the time we spoke and I found that my eyebrows were on a level with the top of his head. It is the biggest head I ever saw-bigger than Macavoy's. He addressed me in English with-"I am very happy, sir, to have the pleasure of making your acquaintance" - and so set the conversation in that language, but he does not speak it so well as I have heard", Charles Gavan Duffy, My lift in T tvo Hemispheres, 2 vols (Fisher Unwire, 1898), hereafter Duffy, II, p. 258, pp. 244-45.

78

As actor, he is the mouth-piece of himself, Lals, the bard, the historian, the Head-

servant, Sagacity, and his various critics and censors. It is common in Browning's

dramatic monologues for the speaker to quote either his interlocutor or some other

character. The Duke proposes that perhaps "Fra Pandolf chanced to say 'Her mantle

laps / Over my lady's wrist too much'" [16-17]. Blougram suggests that in the future

Gigadibs no doubt will boast about their meeting:

"Blougram? I knew him" - (into it you slide) "Dined with him once, a Corpus Christi Day, All alone, we two-he's a clever man- And after dinner, -why, the wine you know, - Oh, there was wine, and good! -what with the wine... 'Faith, we began upon all sorts of talk!

[33-38]

It is easy to hear the speakers taking on the tone and inflections of the interlocutors they

are quoting; the Duke imitating how a social inferior "chances" to say something;

Blougram showing how someone will pompously "slide" into a story. These quoted

instances occur often in Brownings dramatic monologues and Prince Hohenstiel-

Schwangau is no exception. The words of Lays, the historian, Sagacity, Head-servant, the

bard, and the Prince's critics are directly quoted and show the Prince's power of

mimicry and his versatility as an actor. He plays them in character and gives directions

as to the tone and manner of each. When he says "they brought no such bud-mouth /

As yours to lisp 'You wish you knew me! '", he is lisping the quoted line. He plays the

bard with "mock humility" [536]; the "never-failing taunt" of his foes "twangs" [613];

Sagacity "explains" [1450], "suggests" [1545], "groans" [1571], "whispers" [1659],

"advises" [1731]. However, what is unique to the poem is that the historian, Sagacity,

and Head-servant are distinct roles which the Prince takes upon himself, not instances

where the speaker reminisces, mimics, or repeats the words of the interlocutor.

The Prince's ability as an actor capable of portraying a variety of roles and emotions

is evident from the very beginning. The opening passage is marked by well-sustained,

rapid changes of mood and tone. He can be sympathetically solicitous [1]; self-

deprecating, charming, complimentary, with a hint of mischief in "lisp" [2-3];

conversational [4]; scornful and foreboding [5] (all the more so because of the irony in

the word "trouble", since Sphinx killed the "wise men" who thought they could solve

its riddle); thoughtful and pensive [6]; self-mocking and naughty [7-8]; playful, getting

into the spirit of the game [9]; serious, angry, menacing [10-15]; solemn, poetic,

speculative [16-18]; jovial [19]; flirtatious [20-21]; excited, eager, satisfied [23];

humorously conspiratorial, charming [23-24].

79

As director he controls and dictates the manner and pace of exposition. "But listen,

for we must co-operate" [23]; "Firs, how to make the matter plain" [26]; "Now, we'll

extend rays" [92]; "Cut on to the concluding chapter" [1228]; "Hurry Thiers-Hugo"

[1230]; "Exemplify the situation thus! " [1231]. He shows how he should play L, aIs:

Now I permit your plump lips to unpurse: 'So far, one possibly may understand Without recourse to witchcraft! ' True, my dear.

[45-47]

He goes over the physical mannerism, mimics her voice, and then reverts back to his

own place-"True, my dear. " He pauses to review the performance so far: "Is this

much easy to be understood / At first glance? " [287-88]. And at the end of the poem, he ends his directorship by dismissing his last role ("Doff spectacles, wipe pen, shut book, decamp! " [20871) and takes on the mantle of critic, assessing and passing judgement on the whole perforrmance and stating his conclusion. Characteristically, he

buffers the painful truth by a witticism: "A nod / Out-Homering Homer! " [2080-81].

The allusion is to a passage from the Ars Poetica [358-60] where Horace posits that while

poor poets sometimes have moments of true inspiration, one must also accept the

reverse from great poets:

And I, when worthy Homer sleeps away, Feel indignation in a friendly way. But in a work that's long't is fair to think The author can't but sometimes doze or wink. 25

The Prince rather sardonically compares himself with Homer, implying satisfaction

with his effort ("You see 't is easy in heroics! " [2088]), and blaming any weaknesses on its length (which, he jokes, has caused "the bud mouthed arbitress" to nod off [2080]).

After all, "on the stage / You shuffle through your part as best you can" [1009-10].

My third point has to do with the relationship between author and protagonist that

their mutual manipulation of the reader creates a professional bond between them. At

the beginning of the poem the Prince divulges that his aim is to make sure of a proper interpretation of his career; "that the good trick which served the turn / Have justice

rendered it" [12-13]. "Trick" is the pivotal word of the poem. It has connotations of playing and performing. 2' In stage language, doing the next trick means putting on the

next act. "Trick", in relation to clothes, means "to decorate" and to "dress up". The

Z` Daniel Bagot, The Art of Poetry of Horace (Blackwood, 1863), p. 67. 26 See Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, ed. by Henry J. Todd, 2nd edn, 3 vois (Longman, 1827), III, under "trick".

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prince, symbolically, puts on different clothes for his roles. The Prince's play has been a

rendition of "the life / I' the old gay miserable time, rehearsed, / Tried on again like

cast clothes" [2075-771. But "trick", apart from its theatrical connotations, also serves a double purpose. It alludes to the internalized nature and challenge of the Prince's play:

the problematic task of having "justice rendered" to a "good trick"; the psychology involved in the odd choice of this word to describe one's career -a word which, after

all, has "deception" as its foremost meaning. Second, it hints at Browning's own role as

a playwright by means of association with his protagonist. It should not be difficult to associate Browning with the world of sphinxes, riddles,

and tricksters. In his very first work, Pauline; A Fragment of a Confession, he makes the

poet's confessor, Pauline, also the poem's editor. 27 Is "fragment" used in a dismissive

manner, or has someone withheld the rest of the confession? Prior to Prince Hohenstiel-

Schwangau Browning has tricked the reader with Guido 's first monologue, and by not

providing a dialogue between Saul and David. 28 EBB noticed "the Sphinxiness of Browning" early on. 29 Carlyle habitually complained of Browning's "most ingenious"

twisting up of the English language into riddles. And even William Allingham, one of Browning's foremost admirers, came dose to losing faith when trying to come up with the "riddle's proper rede" [11J. Appropriately, he has just finished "Sludge" ("friend

Home"):

I cannot... allow the faintest shadow of a suspicion to dwell in my mind that his genius may have a leaven of quackery... If you suspect, and sometimes find out, that riddles presented to you with Sphinxian solemnity have no answers that really fit them, your curiosity is apt to fall towards freezing point, if not below it0

While Browning is the author of the poem, during the course of the Prince's "play" (the

dramatic monologue section), poet and Prince are one, in the sense that both are writing the play. As Philip Drew points out, by the end of the poem the Prince "occupies the

same relative position to it as the poet himself". 31 And both playwrights are playing a trick. The Prince refers to his career as a trick, which makes him a trickster. It would

27 For an explanation of the literary tradition of which the poem is a part, see LAEP, I, p. 22. 28"If we read Brownirqg's 'Saul' as a dramatic monologue, we may legitimately object to the way the poet has tricked us into going to church by announcing: 'See the Christ stand! ' Instead of witnessing a dramatic exchange between David and his auditor, we find Saul dropped from the poem altogether and that we have become the captive audience of a doctrinal exhortation", W. David Shaw, "Victorian Poetics: An Approach Through Genre", Victorian Newsletter, 39 (Spring 1971), 1-4 (p. 1). 29 To Thomas Westwood, April 1845, Correspondence, X, p. 145. 30 Allingham, p. 205, p. 174. 31 Dom, p. 98.

81

not be surprising that his play is also going to be a trick, or contain trickery. Browning's

trick, of course, is also on the reader through the ploy of disguising his play, the

soliloquy, as dramatic monologue. Browning, in my opinion, has developed a new form which I will call a dramatic

soliloquy. The main feature of this innovation is that the reader is now able to observe

and judge the speaker in two different modes. I would now like to define the two

modes of soliloquy and dramatic monologue and examine their application within the

poem. In a soliloquy the speaker is alone, speaking his thoughts and feelings. He is seen

as he appears to himself, and his comments and self-analysis-unless there is an

obvious indication of self-delusion-have to be taken as honest and truthful (as

humanly possible). In a dramatic monologue the speaker interacts with an interlocutor

or an audience. He is seen as he would like to appear to others and, therefore, his

words and manner do not have the same level of authenticity as those of a soliloquist.

Robert Langbaum has explained that internal debate and self-analysis are the main

attributes of soliloquy because the subject is the self.

Since talking about one's self necessarily involves an objective stance, the soliloquist must see himself from a general perspective. It is not enough for him to think his thoughts and feel his feelings, he must also describe them as an observer would; for he is trying to understand himself in the way that the reader understands him- rationally, by relating his thoughts and feelings to general truths.

By contrast, in a dramatic monologue, since the speaker is in an interactive situation, the

unconscious and incidental revelations form the real dues to the speaker's character.

The soliloquist is concerned with truth, he is trying to find the right point of view; while the speaker of the dramatic monologue starts with an established point of view, and is not concerned with its truth but with trying to impress it on the outside world. The meaning of the soliloquy is equivalent to what the soliloquist reveals and understands, the poetic statement being as much as he has been able to rationalize, to see in terms of the general perspective. But the meaning of the dramatic monologue is in the disequilibrium with what the speaker reveals and understands. We understand the speaker's point of view not through his description of it but indirectly, through what he sees while judging the limitations and distortions of what he sees. 32

32 Langbaum, p. 146.

82

The Prince's purpose is twofold and he makes use of both modes. He needs the

general perspective of the soliloquy because his aim (and that of Browning) is truly

"Revealment of myself! " [221. In this mode he indulges in "self-analysis and internal

debate":

Give me the inner chamber of the soul For obvious easy argument! 't is there One pits the silent truth against a lie -

[2126-28]

At the same time, he has to try to explain and justify his actions and career of twenty

years, especially "since I live / Twenty years longer and then end, perhaps! " [2103-04].

He has therefore attempted a setting (the pretend dramatic monologue) in which it is

possible

to talk Inside the soul, a ghostly dialogue - Instincts with guesses, - instinct, guess, again With dubious knowledge, half-experience: each And all the interlocutors alike Subordinating, - as decorum bids, Oh, never fear! but still decisively, - Claims from without that take too high a tone.

[2091-98]

Even though he is, in fact, alone he is very concerned with the quality of his arguments

and the degree of their effectiveness. The Prince takes his defence very seriously for

two reasons. One, it might lead to his survival one day. This is in view of a possible future when he is no longer in power and may have to face charges brought up against him He is, however, honest enough (in soliloquy mode) to confess to a certain degree

of manipulation-"Old, never fear! "-to his own advantage. If, as he hints at the beginning of the poem, there is a chance that he is a trickster (soliloquy) or might be

viewed as such (dramatic monologue) he has to be very careful in his exposition. It is

therefore convenient and necessary to use for his defence the dramatic monologue's "established point of view" and not be necessarily "concerned with its truth but with trying to impress it on the outside world", even if this means "Subordinating

... Claims

from without that take too high a tone". The second reason is that a proper justification

of his actions also serves as an exercise to aid his own understanding of himself; he is

both the speaker and (along with us) his own audience and does not wish to appear a trickster to himself. The revealing-versus-understanding "disequilibrium" is reflexive.

83

Unlike the speakers of dramatic monologues he, along with the reader, is also aware of

and "judging the limitations and distortions of what he sees". The Prince's "play" is a synthesis of soliloquy and dramatic monologue where both

criteria of interpretation can apply. The Prince is both alone and not alone. The reader has to decide which comments of the Prince are addressed to himself and which to Lais,

and how much validity can be assigned to possible incidental and unconscious

revelations. Hence the importance of shifting the emphasis of interpretation of

character from the content of the Prince's "revealments" to the choice of and the setting for the revealments. There are incidental revelations in the Prince's "play", but their

validity is difficult to ascertain. In order to build a character profile of the Prince it is

more rewarding to wonder why he has decided to attempt revealment in the first place,

why he has chosen to be interviewed by a prostitute, why he has decided to let his

enemies write his biography, why he has omitted certain aspects of his career? When

the Prince confronts delicate and painful issues like the possibility of his biological

illegitimacy, does he deserve the same amount of sympathy for his honesty as he would

were he in a real interactive situation? Does he provide the same amount of insight as to his psychological make-up? No matter how well the Prince appears to have entered into the spirit of his imaginary setting, the fact remains that he is not in a real interactive

situation-he chooses and poses the questions which he then proceeds to answer. Which revelations are truly incidental and unconscious and which merely further

examples of the Prince's craft? Despite his claim of self-revealment, does he, like

Blougram, believe half he speaks? If so, how can one differentiate between the

arguments? It is the tension created by possible discrepancies in maintaining the two

modes concurrently-between seeming completely truthful in front of an "audience"

and being honest in solitary introspection-which will "evolve the crisis" and lead to

the Prince's confession at the end. The reader, who on first attempt, has been twice

tricked (by poet and protagonist) and misled into reading the poem as a dramatic

monologue, now has to begin again with a new set of rules of interpretation, faced, for

the first time, with a speaker who deliberately engages the attributes of dramatic

monologue to his own advantage. The reader, having heard his arguments and his

confession, and traced the changes in mood and tactics, can decide on his levels of sincerity. Does the Prince believe, like Blougram, that truth will be achieved at the "break of day" [21), or is five in the morning ("yes, five the pendule warns! ") a false dawn?

As the poem begins the Prince puts himself in the role of a kind, sad, understanding, exiled gentleman of the world and plans his play:

You have seen better days, dear? So have I-

84

And worse too, for they brought no such bud-mouth As yours to lisp "You wish you knew me! " Well, Wise men, 't is said, have sometimes wished the same,

5 And wished and had their trouble for their pains. Suppose my (Edipus should lurk at last Under a pork-pie hat and crinoline, And, latish, pounce on Sphynx in Leicester Square? Or likelier, what if Sphynx in wise old age,

10 Grown sick of snapping foolish people's heads, And jealous for her riddle's proper rede, - Jealous that the good trick which served the turn Have justice rendered it, nor class one day With friend Home's stilts and tongs and medium ware, -

15 What if the once redoubted Sphynx, I say, (Because night draws on, and the sands increase, And desert whispers grow a prophecy) Tell all to Corinth of her own accord, Bright Corinth, not dull Thebes, for L, aYs' sake,

20 Who finds me hardly grey, and likes my nose, And thinks a man of sixty at the prime? Good! It shall be! Revealment of myself! But listen, for we must co-operate; I don't drink tea: permit me the cigar!

Perhaps his description of his career as a "good trick" betrays a sense of

disappointment, and/or a hint that he is about to perform another "trick". At the

moment, feeling harassed by dangers that would "lurk" [61 and "pounce" [7], he

decides that a proper understanding of his actions might provide some redemption.

Oedipus and Thebes, having unpleasant connotations for "Sphynx", are substituted by

Lais and Corinth. Understandably the famous courtesan is someone with whom a man

can "co-operate" better. She apparently qualifies as a confidant, since not just "foolish

people", but the wise have also failed to find the answer to the riddle that is the Prince:

"You wish you knew me! " Well, Wise men, 't is said, have sometimes wished the same, And wished and had their trouble for their pains.

[3-5]

There is a sense of menacing relish, of a fond memory, in the repetition of "wish" and

the casual disclaimer, "'t is said". The sense of menace, however, is partnered by an

element of humour and self-mockery that to some extent defuses the tension. This

aspect of the Prince's character partly explains the choice of Lasts. Initially he chooses to

be reduced to having as companion a common prostitute, who like himself, has seen "better days". That dearly is unacceptable for the arbiter of Europe. He promotes her

85

to one of the most celebrated courtesans of ancient Greece, who was not only famous

for her wit, charms, and price, but also for revealing the hypocrisy in the ascetic

pretensions of philosophers-33 The Prince has the lisping prostitute perform her

professional routine: she dismisses his age and grey hair as unimportant, praises his

(ugly? large? ) nose, and (invitingly) suggests her desire for greater intimacy. He,

deliberately, misunderstands and interprets her words literally. He has decided on the

game and will "Tell all" for "Laic' sake" [18-191. The joke is that one engages a

prostitute for other purposes.

Ay, we must take one instant of my life Spent sitting by your side in this neat room: Watch well the way I use it, and don't laugh!

[27-29]

In either case, he needs the placebo of humour and the ephemeral relief of self-

mockery. From a psychological point of view, if this is going to be a self-confession, he

needs to think of it as a play for self-protection, as a buffer against any possible

unpalatable truths that might become exposed. The pun on "play" is intended. By

thinking of his attempt as a playful exercise, as only a game (albeit a serious game), he

indulges both serious and frivolous tendencies at the same time. The language of his

preparation, thus, echoes that of participants discussing rules and setting. The

33 "She first began to sell her favours at Corinth for 10,000 drachmas, and the immense number of princes, noblemen, philosophers, orators, and plebeians, who courted her, bear witness to her personal charms. ' LaYs "ridiculed the austerity of philosophers, and the weakness of those who pretend to have gained a superiority over their passions, by observing that sages and philosophers were not above the rest of mankind, for she found them at her door as often as the rest of the Athenians", Lempr+ire's Classical Dictionary, ed. by John A. Giles, 4th edn (Whittaker, 1843), p. 491. Balaustion relates (Aristophanes' Apology [5325-36]) that LaYs even managed to get the better of Euripides:

They do say-Lais the Corinthian once Chancing to see Euripides (who paced Composing in a garden, tablet-book In left hand, with appended stulos prompt) "Answer me, " she began, "0 Poet, - this! What didst intend by writing in thy play Go han& thou filthy doer? " Struck on heap, Euripides, at the audacious speech- "Well now, " quoth he, "thyself art just the one I should imagine fit for deeds of filth! " She laughingly retorted his own line "What's filth, -unless who does it, thinks it so? "

Lasts was also known for her fairness and impartiality. According to Athenaeus she "had an immense number of lovers, never caring whether they were rich or poor, and never treating them with any insolence", The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus, trans. by Charles D. Yonge, 3 vols (Henry Bohm, 1854), III, p. 939. If the Prince is going to make a sincere effort at self-revealment, it is understandable that he would want a fair hearing.

86

discussion progresses from -suppose", to "Or likelier", to "What if" (with an

admonition in line 16 to hurry up and begin) to, finally, "Good! It shall be! " He has

decided on the game: it is to be "Revealment of myself! " Playfulness becomes a

prominent feature of the Prince's character. When confronting rumours of his own

illegitimacy ("who is who, what son of what sire" [2057]), he feels this train of thought

has gone beyond all bounds and "bearing" [2075]. He quickly ("At a pinch" [20781)

comes to his own rescue:

"Who's who? " was aptly asked, Since certainly I am not I! since when? Where is the bud-mouthed arbitress?

[2078-80]

He has cleverly altered the painful reference of "who is who" to a level of playfulness,

using it not only to repeat that he is not like the Head-servant, but also to produce the

denouement that he is also not the man in exile, but "i' the Residenz yet" [2135].

Once the true form of the poem is realized, the reader needs to be able to

distinguish between the two modes. The Prince has two voices within the poem. In

soliloquy mode he speaks in his own voice, as "Sphynx", the manager of Europe, and

expresses his emotional state and deals with his performance. With one exception

(discussed below) he is in soliloquy mode at the beginning of the poem [6-21] where he

sets up his performance, and at the end of the poem [2073-2146] where he reveals the

true setting of the poem and reaches his conclusions. The other voice belongs to the

character he has chosen to play in his dramatic monologue. He is playing himself, but

in a future in which he is out of power and in exile. In this mode he examines his

personality and political philosophy, in the "Autobiography" [1220] section of the

poem, and his political rule in the "Thiers-and-Victor-Hugo exercise" [1223] (discussed

in Chapter 5). The two modes are distinguishable. The dramatic monologue mode is

identifiable because throughout the Prince maintains the illusion of an audience. The

final section is dearly in soliloquy mode since the Prince divulges that he is "i' the

Residenz yet, not Leicester-square, / Alone" [2135-36]. The beginning section, for the

poem's disguise to work, is cryptic. The poem opens with the Prince speaking to a

prostitute, in the ostensible setting of a room somewhere in Leicester Square. But with line 6's "Suppose my (Edipus", it momentarily shifts back to the Residenz. Clearly, the

line cannot have been addressed to the prostitute; she would have no idea who Oedipus

was, not to mention Sphinx or LaYs, and "pounce" would be rude. Having decided that

the "good trick" deserves to have "justice rendered it", the scene shifts back to the hotel

room (l. 22). The shift in address is like the theatrical "aside" to the audience; but since the Prince is alone, he would be addressing himself, moving from dramatic monologue

87

to soliloquy and back. Because the poem is a soliloquy, one has to assume, in the first

place, that the Prince is sincere in his desire for self-revealment. Therefore when in

soliloquy mode, at the beginning and end of the poem, his declarations and conclusions

must be taken as the truth as he sees it. Similarly, character revealment must also be

taken as true, and not as a fabricated persona projected by the Prince.

Interpretation becomes difficult when the Prince is in dramatic monologue mode.

The usual method of interpretation of Browning's dramatic monologues is to search for

insincerity and incidental revealment of character based on the speakers' natural and

real speech in an interactive situation. This cannot be applied completely to Prince

Hohenstiel-Schwangau because the situation is not real. I am not suggesting that the

Prince is deliberately dishonest, but that he can control and manipulate the setting and

content of his play in such a way that he will not be forced to resort to dishonesty or

casuistry. He chooses his critics' objections and how far their arguments are pursued.

He chooses to disclose himself to a prostitute, not a political expert. Therefore it would

appear that the Princes should be viewed as sincere in his dramatic monologue mode as

well. The play seems to be a vehicle for him to express himself within a functional

framework. I believe this is the right conclusion. The reader has to proceed with the

understanding that the Prince is sincere in detailing his views, intentions and actions.

There would be little point for the Prince (and Browning and the reader) to go through

all the trouble of analyzing what he already believes to be false. It greatly enhances the

value of the work to have a speaker who is genuinely concerned with the truth of his

beliefs and acts, as opposed to one who, perhaps, is bothered by a guilty conscience.

I believe, however, that one can to some extent apply the dramatic monologue's

methodology of interpretation to the Prince, but only in passages where the language

becomes passionate, as if the result of genuine emotional response and not part of an

act. At times he appears so involved in rendering a convincing defence that he loses

touch with the parameters which he had set for his play. "I rule and regulate" [465] he

explains, forgetting he is supposed to be in exile. He refers to L, aYs in line 291, but by

fourteen lines later he is addressing a difference audience. The Prince is now

confronting his critics-the wise and the foolish who misunderstood him in the past.

His actions are still "Baffling you all who want the eye to probe" [305]. The audience has become "You man of faith" [484], "you man of faithlessness" [488], "my gifted friend" [555], "my judge" [616], "my friends" [638], "counseller" [816], "My censors" [876]. The personal pronoun "you" does not refer to LaYs until she appears again in line

1199. Answering the criticism of the imaginary "counseller" [816], he expresses his love

for Italy and the cause of Italian freedom:

88

Ay, still my fragments wander, music-fraught, Sighs of the soul, mine once, mine now, and mine For ever! Crumbled arch, crushed aqueduct, Alive with tremors in the shaggy growth Of wild-wood, crevice-sown, that triumphs there Imparting exultation to the hills! Sweep of the swathe when only the winds walk And waft my words above the grassy sea Under the blinding blue that basks o'er Rome, - Hear ye not still -"Be Italy again? " And ye, what strikes the panic to your heart? Decrepit council-chambers, - where some lamp Drives the unbroken black three paces off From where the greybeards huddle in debate.

[834-47]

The passage serves well to show his real pain in realizing, "Once pedestalled on earth, /

To act not speak, I found earth was not air" [902-03]. His frustration in having to

compromise is evident in the insulting references to the Papacy, which he has been

forced to protect despite his personal inclinations. The sudden shift of tone and address from the counseller directly to the priests is unconscious-he would have been

diplomatic if his bitterness had been part of his act. The methodology of interpretation for dramatic soliloquy can be understood by

studying passages where the synthesized nature of the form is alluded to. This occurs

either by an evident switch between the two modes of soliloquy and dramatic

monologue, or through a subtle blurring of the line dividing them. During the course of his play, the Prince switches back to soliloquy mode only once - signifying the

importance of that instance. This occurs when he is expressing his feelings for the

common folk, "Oh those mute myriads that spoke loud to me" [740]. He claims that his

genuine love for humanity is one of the reasons why he had decided to save society. He

likens society to a temple

whence the long procession wound Of powers and beauties, earth's achievements all, The human strength that strove and overthrew, - The human love that, weak itself, crowned strength, - The instinct crying "God is whence I camel"

[658-621

Even though the language is as passionate and seeming as heartfelt as that on Italy, the

passage immediately follows what can only be taken as a cautionary (directorial)

interruption by the Prince. Before launching into the hyperbolic passage, he tells himself (not Lam),

89

Such was the task imposed on me, such my end.

Now for the means thereto. Ah confidence- Keep we together or part company? This is the critical minute! "Such my end? " Certainly; how could it be otherwise?

[648-52]

He has reached a point in his argument where he has to justify his conclusion of "such

my end". He warns himself that this is the most important point to get across for his

argument to be convincing. He pauses to ponder the "means thereto". This being the

"critical minute! " where it is very important for him to be convincing. After all, his

social feelings, his decision to save society, were the basis for broken oaths, deaths, and

deportations. He urges himself to be confident and continues in character: "'Such my

end? ' / Certainly". The theatrical aside effectively shows him in control of the course of

his exposition and, at that moment, not emotionally compromised. Whatever his

feelings for humanity and society are, one cannot confidently use this passage as an

example of incidental revealment. The passage where the two modes merge momentarily is another theatrical aside.

This could be read as addressed, with a hint of mischief, to LaYs; but the Prince is, by

this point, concentrating completely on his arguments and has momentarily forgotten

about her. Arriving at objections to his seemingly vacillating policies he prefaces his

reply with,

Well, Leicester-square is not the Residenz: Instead of shrugging shoulder, turning friend The deaf ear, with a wink to the police - I'll answer-by a question, wisdom's mode.

[806-09]

The implication is that while in power it was a common practice to deal with criticism

by removing the critic. M Throughout his apology the Prince has been at pains to

suggest his benevolence towards his critics and enemies. They are constantly referred

to as his friends. At one point, apparently having forgotten their relationship to him, he

magnanimously corrects himself: "My friend, / That is, my foe" [1059-60]. Such a

blatant confession of his true feelings and practice would have no place in his defence

34 "Of the secret or political police, of course, nothing but its existence is known; its agents are said to be everywhere, of all ranks, and in all places", A Handbook for Visitors to Paris (John Murray, 1867), p. 215. See also James J. jarves, Parisian Sights and French Principles, Seen through American Spectacles (Clarke Beeton, 1853), hereafter Jaroes, Parisian Sights, pp. 120-30.

90

unless he were alone. It is a moment where the line between his true and his imaginary

setting becomes blurred and true revealment of character takes place. These two instances reveal that there are limits to the Prince's benevolence and

altruism, but there is very little in his "Autobiography" to suggest that the Prince is

deliberately setting out to deceive. (The big exception is, of course, his use of the word "trick" to describe his career. ) After all the main attribute of soliloquy is its confessional

nature. The form implies that the speaker has (to some degree) an initial intention of an honest attempt at a search for the truth. Since one tries not to lie too much to oneself,

the form allows for a possible confession, a truthful self-revealment. In the dramatic

monologues Browning's casuists, in their attempt to explain and defend themselves, do

resort to deliberate self-revealment; but their exposition is a rhetorical fabrication

created to support and justify their claims, since it is not their primary intention to be

truthful. However one decides to interpret Sludge's "Really, I want to light up my own

mind" [811], he has no intention of revealing his true nature when he sits down to save his neck by relating his history. Blougram, one may argue, has had more time than

Sludge to prepare his performance; enough time, perhaps, to form a genuine curiosity

about himself, but his promise to disclose the truth fails to convince since it is

compromised by his desire to destroy Gigadibs. The Prince, on the other hand, has not been only practising a legal defence for the future, or a first draft of his memoirs; he has

been, at some level, testing his own conviction as to the truth of his arguments. In other

words, he has been able to stand back and observe himself as another person would,

while possessing, perforce, the best qualification for judgement. At the end, he

manages honesty and confesses his failure to exonerate himself. Clyde Ryals misses this point when he concludes that the poem fails because the Prince, at the end, tries to

shift blame through special pleading. Read that way, the form offers nothing new.

In his quest for greater objectivity Browning had sought to overcome the most serious limitation of the dramatic monologue by combining the mode with interior dialogue. But the result was the same: the exercise of the dialogue ended in special pleading, with the speaker rationalizing his motives and actions in the same way as in the monologue in prnpria persona 35

The real ending of the poem is not the special pleading. The important moment which the poem (and an increasingly reluctant Prince) has been moving towards is

when the Prince confesses that the "silent truth" [2128] in the "inner chamber" [2126] of his soul, marks him for damnation. The Prince admits to himself that his main

35 Clyde de L. Ryals, Browning's Later Poetry, 1871-1889 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1875), p. 56.

91

motivation has been vanity and selfishness: "myself / Am first to be considered" [2102-

03]. That is why the only time he reverts to soliloquy mode during his performance is

just prior to the passage in which he expresses his love of humanity. It was the "critical

minute! " exactly because he had doubts as to the nature and degree of his altruism. The

special pleading is cosmetic. The Prince consciously uses language as a shield against

painful truths ("words deflect" [2131]). His notion that human beings can never be

truly honest, even with themselves, and use language, consciously and unconsciously,

for protection against accusation and guilt is simply his attempt at self-consolation. The

notion is so commonplace as to qualify as a truism. During "the monologue" the Prince

has an imaginary audience in mind - Lais, his critics past and present, and posterity.

His admission of failure at self-justification-within the formal framework of the

poem -is the logical conclusion. It is precisely because of his realization of the overall

failure of his apology (to convince himself) that his confession has to be in propria

persona. When the Prince states that mankind manipulates words to deflect (painful)

truth, he is commenting on the dramatic monologue disguise, his performance to his

imaginary audience and to himself. At the end, in soliloquy mode, he is honest with

himself. What provides the Prince with a saving grace, and sets him apart from the other

casuists, is his (albeit fleeting)

confession and acceptance of his selfish motives (the closest he will come to achieving a Browningesque victory-in- defeat). He may have very

well have cared a great deal for

society and the common man, but he cared for his own needs

and pleasure more. The

monologue has been

progressing slowly and inexorably towards those few

moments in which the Prince

admits to his moral failure, and (most important in a

confession) speaks the words out loud. This is possible only because of the form of the

poem which provides the Prince with a suitable setting to pass a sincere judgement on his performance and himself. This is the most effective way for Browning to show that

92

the Prince is not a hero: "I rather made him confess that he was the opposite" 36 It

allows the admission to be truthful and poignant and firmly marks the poem as an

apology, not merely a satire. In a true synthesis, the form has provided the solution to

the problem posed by the content: how to make "Sphynx" confess. Had he not been

alone, he would have been unable, like Blougram, "to utter in their truth" "certain hell-

deep instincts" [991,992]. A character like the Prince could only have managed an honest examination of his motives in a dramatic soliloquy. It is important to note, however, that the Prince only confronts the sincerity of his motives. The confession does not clarify whether the Prince's comes to believe that he is a political failure as

well. I will show, in my last two chapters, why it is the reader who will reach that

conclusion.

Mise-en-scene

Looking at the question of form from a historical position, one discovers there was

such an insistence on seeing Louis Napoleon's career as a piece of theatre and him as an

actor that it would have been surprising if Browning's treatment had been different. 37

Theatrical metaphors were a popular cliche of the period. Louis Napoleon's best effort

was, "Down here, all men are more or less actors; but each chooses his theatre and

audience. " But in the case of Louis Napoleon the use of the metaphors was

overwhelming, at times unconscious, and, it seems, compulsive. In the first year of the Second Empire, the Earl of Malmesbury, Foreign Secretary in 1852 and 1858 and a good friend of Louis Napoleon's, wrote:

36 To Edith Story, 1 January 1872, American Friends, p. 167. Philip Drew points out that in the last scene of the poem the Prince's "self-awareness is of an order quite exceptional among Browning's characters", Drew, p. 297. 37 years later, in parleying "With George Bubb Dodington", Browning had Dodington draw an analogy between the art of politics and acting:

What fool conjectures that profession means Performance? That who goes behind the scenes Finds, - acting over, - still the soot stuff screens Othello's visage, still the self-same cloak's Bugle-bright-blackness half reveals half chokes Hamlet's emotion, as ten minutes since? No, each resumes his garb, stands-Moor or prince- Decently draped: just so with statesmanship! All outside show, in short, is sham - why wince?

[58-661 38 "Ici bas, tons lea homines sont plus ou moms acteurs; mais chacun choisit son th6 tre et son auditoire", Oeuvres, I, p. 337.

VAM

Although the banquet and establishment of courtiers and servants was as splendid as possible, there was a feeling in the air which impressed with the idea that the whole pageant must be ephemeral. I cannot explain this sentiment, unless it was that I observed that the members of the household appeared not to have perfectly learned their parts, and also that, having seen and known the Emperor for so many years in such a totally different position, his present one looked like a dream or a play. 39

There are two explanations for the way the Malmesbury feels. Louis Napoleon had

famously written to Lady Blessington from Ham in reply to her sympathetic queries as

to his future: "with the name I bear, I must have either the obscurity of a dungeon, or

the light of power. "40 He appeared to believe that it was his destiny to sit on the throne

of France. This conviction led to a general and pervasive impression that his path was like a implacable role offered to him which he had no choice but to accept His life and

career up till that transformation-as a prince, an exile, a revolutionary, a conspirator, a

republican-would be a preparation for his greatest performance ("did I have to learn

my trade, / Practise as exile ere perform as prince? " [997-98]). 41 His biographers were justified in wondering at his expertise:

Looking back upon the past, the rapidity with which he advances from an almost forgotten exile into the surprise of the world as a rash man, into the laughter of the world as an imbecile, into the scrutiny of the world as a cunning man, into the astonishment of the world as a bold, powerful, and sagacious man, with mysteries and reserves which even his Ministers fail to penetrate - all this produces upon the mind at first just such an impression as the morning of the 2nd of December cast over Paris. 42

39 Earl of Malmesbury games. H. Harris], Memoirs of an Ex-Minister, 2 vols (Longmans, 1884), hereafter Malmesburg, I, p. 394. EBB to George Barrette "Lord Malmesbury, your new secretary for foreign affairs, is said to be a personal friend of Louis Napoleon, & very acceptable on that account", 28 February 1852, George Barrett, p. 173. Malmesbury and Louis Napoleon had first met in Rome in 1829 and had continued their friendship at Lady Blessington's gatherings at Gore House. Malmesbury, I, p. 19, p. 23. 40 13 January 1841, quoted in Louis A. A. de la Guerronii re, Napoleon the Third, trans. by Lieutenant-Colonel C. Gilliess (Vizetelly, 1853), hereafter La Guj ronilre, p. 28. 41 A theatrical pun in "performance" is implied only in special circumstances. In the nineteenth century the word was commonly used to mean one's actions or works. For example: "We got hold of Home's New Spirit of the Age, principally for the purpose of finding out any particulars about Browning and his performances", William Michael Rossetti Some Reminiscences of William Michael Rossetti, 2 vols (Brown Langham., 1906), I, p. 233. Browning himself referred to Pauline as the "first of my performances", LAEP, I, p. 20. 42 Frederick Greenwood, Life of Napoleon the Third (Partridge, 1855), hereafter Greenwood, p. 143.

VV

Several weeks before the coup d'etat EBB wrote to Mary Mitford from Paris. At the

time, given the constant conflict between the President and the Assembly, the tension

was rising as the President's term in office was drawing to a close. "Let me think of

what I can tell you of the president. I never saw his face though he has driven past me in the boulevards, & past these windows constantly... What a fourth act of a play we are in just now. " She explained the four acts in her next letter:

Louis Napoleon is said to say (a bitter foe of his told me this) that "there will be four phases of his life. The first was all rashness & imprudence... but it was necessary to make him known: the second, the struggle with & triumph over anarchy: the third, "the settlement of France & the pacification of Europe: " the fourth... "a coup de pistolet" 43

Another common classification of Louis Napoleons career was as Prince, Pretender,

Prisoner, and President, relating to his life as a young man, his two attempts to seize

power, his six-years captivity in the fortress of Ham, and his election in 1848.

The second explanation for a theatrical template applies to the period when he had

gained "the light of power". During the years of exile Louis Napoleon had consistently

argued that the only hope for France is a regime which can combine the liberties gained from the French Revolution (notably, universal suffrage) with the order, stability, and

glory of the Napoleonic empire. The heir of Napoleon Bonaparte "is the sole

representative of the highest amount of glory, as the Republic is the embodiment of the

greatest amount of natural liberty". The nature of the Empire was "to consolidate a throne based on the principles of the Revolution"; as the foremost bearer of that name Bonaparte, the responsibility to redirect France on to this path lay with him. 44 After his

second unsuccessful attempt to achieve this end he was imprisoned in the fortress of Ham. George Sand wrote to him to explain that France does not need a throne to

consolidate the liberties of the Revolution; that his democratic theory was outdated and

misguided:

You may say what you like, the transformation of the revolution, in his person, may have been necessary, providential; it certainly was magnificent and shining as the sun; but Equality proclaimed by La Convention -what became of it under his sword? Do you think we wish to repudiate what there was sublime in him-no-but the fatality he carried with him is, that we do not care to recommence

43 12 November 1851,24 December 1851, Mitford, III, p. 334, p. 339. 44 ("Consolider un tr6ne sur les principes de la Revolution"), "Reveries Politiques" (1832), Oeuvres, I pp. 377-78 (PHW, I, pp. 166-67). For his extended reworking of the concept see L'Idee napoleonienne (1840), Oeuvres, I, pp. 8-9 (PHW, II, pp. 262-63).

95

with-we do not think it any longer necessary, and we feel it to be fatal... We have to conquer the right of not selecting any more monarchs, and of not enduring any more the Dictatorship of Genen i5.45

She repeated her warning of the anachronism of his vision in another letter. "We have

at once diminished and grown since the days of sublime intoxication which He gave us: his illustrious reign is no longer of this world. "46 Louis Blanc, during a visit to the

fortress, had given him the same advice ("que 1'histoire se continuait en changeant d'aspect et ne se rep(! tait point"); that the only future for France is a republic not an

empire. He later recounted how, after their talk, Louis Napoleon, "with tears in eyes, touched by my words, declared, 'je suis republicain', at our parting" 47

After the coup d'etat, however, Louis Napoleon quickly re-established the empire

and all its trappings, like the French eagle on standards of the army and the cross of the

Legion of Honour. By decree the country would "adopt the souvenirs of the Empire,

and the symbols which recall the remembrance of its glory" 48 It was the

superimposing of a system from the past on a modem framework which to a great

extent gave Louis Napoleon's career and acts a semblance of unreality. Victor Hugo

called him "a man of another age than our own. He seems absurd and mad, because he

is out of his place and time. "49 The sense of displacement was sustained by the

regime's anomalies: a dynastic despotism based on universal suffrage; a totalitarian,

imperialist regime which championed the cause of nationalistic self-determination; a

reactionary system of government which found allies among the liberals of other

nations. In addition, there was the Second Empire's pageantry. The government's

repeated emphasis on the prosperity of the nation and its creation of a society addicted to glory and wealth confirmed a profound need to validate and justify its existence and deflect thoughts of its illegitimacy. A festive atmosphere was created by the beautiful

Paris, the extravagance of the Imperial court, the availability of credit, the prosperous bourgeoisie, the rich elite. For visitors and the affluent it was "la fete imperiale":

"Delicious Paris" with its "artistry in festive spectacle" 50 Louis Napoleon had built a

45 Fredrick T. Briffault, The Prisoner of Ham (Newby, 1846), hereafter Prisoner of Ham, pp. 378-79. The book was reissued in 1852 and 1870. 46 December 1844, Letters of George Sand, ed. by Raphael Ledos de Beauford, 3 vols (Ward and Downey, 1886), I, p. 363. Mazzini, fourteen years later, called him "an abortive rehearsal of a past long and forever gone by", Joseph Mazzini, To Louis Napoleon (Effingham Wilson, 1858), hereafter Mazzini, p. 1. 47 Louis Blanc, Pages d'histoire de la revolution de fevrier 1848 (Paris: Bureau du Nouveau Monde, 1850), pp. 176-77. 48 The Times, 3 January 1852, p. 6. 49 Victor Hugo, Napoleon the Little, 2nd edn (Vizetelly, 1852), hereafter Napoleon the Little, p. 28. 50 Red Cotton Night-Cap Country [797,76].

96

stage for a great, imperial show and was host and master of ceremonies. Misery,

squalor, corruption, injustice were hidden backstage 51 There was an urgency to make

the most profit and take the most pleasure from the moment since feasts come to an

end. Describing the burning of Paris during the last days of the Commune, Zola

depicted the silhouettes of the mob against the burning palaces as a macabre parody of

the essence of the Second Empire: "a fine fete at the Council of State and the Tuileries!

The facades have been illuminated, the chandeliers are sparkling, and the women

dance. Ah, dance, dance in your smouldering skirts and your flaming chignons! "

When the fires were finally out and the imperial residence destroyed, it felt like "the

end of a spectacular performance when all becomes dark on the stage again" 52

For all these reasons, it was standard practice to refer to Louis Napoleon in

theatrical metaphors. Carlyle remembered that at their first meeting in London during

the Pretender years,

his face had a melancholy look that was rather affecting at first, but I soon recognised that it was the sadness of an Opera Singer who cannot get an engagement. When I heard of him afterwards as Emperor, I said to my self, 'Gad, sir, you've got an opera engagement such as no one could possibly have expected! '53

Before landing the starring role of President, Louis Napoleon got a small part as elected

member of the Assembly. Lord Normanby (Ambassador in 1848) recorded his entrance:

"I have just returned from witnessing the administration of Louis Bonaparte into the

Assembly. He came quietly in at a side door, and took his seat (at first unperceived)

upon a back bench during a dull speech, which his presence tended to shorten. "M One

can imagine the effect: the surreptitious glances, loud whispers, the flustered speaker,

and the slowly descending silence, with the actor seeming oblivious of the effect he has

produced. The Goncourt brothers noted in their journal that on the morning of the

coup d'etat and the following days the walls in the city were covered with play-bills

"announcing the new company, its repertory, its functions, the main characters and the

new address of the director, from the Elysee to the Tuileries". The war with Austria

could be referred to as an "episode" illustrative of the character of "its principal

51 "impel Paris", Athenaeum, 8 November 1862,594-95 (p. 595) states directly that the main reason for French extravagance is to distract from political suppression. 52 Smile Zola, The Doumfial [La Debäcie], trans. by Ernest Vizetelly (Chatto & Windus, 1893), hereafter D¬bäde, pp. 515-16. 53 21 December 1877, Allingham, p. 261. 54 The Marquis of Normanby [Constantine H. Phipps], A Year of Revolution, 2 vole (Longman, 1857), hereafter Narmanby, II, p. 215. Normanby was ambassador to France (1846-52) and minister at Florence (1854-58).

97

manager and most prominent actor, -the single and self-contained personage, who, for

the present, is France". Mazzini told him that there "is a Macbeth feeling of intense

agony preying upon your soul". On the Emperor's visit to England in 1855 Victor Hugo

asked:

Do you come full of promises as you came to France in 1848? Will

you change the pantomime? ... you imagine you are going to produce in Europe I know not what effect in your present mise en scene [sic] - mute, happy, and lugubrious - standing in your cloud of crimes - crowned with a sort of mysterious and imperial infamy.

Louis Blanc expressed the hope that "the time is not far distant, when, the play being

over, the actors, stripped of their gilt fripperies, and no longer painted, will appear to all

what they really are" Punch mischievously complained that "French journalists keep

talking of the 'Imperial Programme', as if his Majesty the Emperor were the manager of

a playhouse". Punch was unrelenting in the use of theatrical similes. In his public

ceremonials he would be "assisted by the entire strength of that sanguinary corps

dramatique, the army of Paris"; or a certain poem appears "as sung by that eminent

Comedian, Louis Napoleon, on the great theatre of Europe" 5' But by far the most

obvious piece of theatre associated with Louis Napoleon was the act he put on in 1848

that convinced many that he, who had up till then done everything he could, in his

writings and actions, to show that he idolized his uncle and wished to rule France, was

not a threat to the Republic and would limit his ambition within the constitution. In

October 1848 an amendment was proposed to the Assembly against the presidency of

members of previous ruling houses. Louis Napoleon, in response, made a short and

poor speech which caused the member, with much condescension, to withdraw his

motion. Victor Hugo recorded in his diary that Louis Napoleon "merely made a few

insignificant remarks and descended from the tribune to the accompaniment of a roar of

astonished laughter". Thiers called him a dunce "and this silly joke was much relished

in lobbies of the Assembly"''

55 Edmond et Jules de Goncourt, Journal, ann. par Robert Ricatbe, 4 tomes (Paris: Fasquelle and Flammarion, 1956), hereafter Goncourt journal, I, pp. 41-42. Franklin Lushington, "The Crisis of Italian Freedom", MM, 1 (1859), 55-63 (p. 57). Mazzini, p. 1. Victor Hugo, Visit of the Emperor of the French to England (Truelove, 1855), pp. 2-3. Louis Blanc, 1848. Historical Revelations (Chapman

and Hall, 1858), p. 516. 56 16 October 1869, p. 152; 3 December 1851, p. 271; 17 March 1860, p. 107. He was also depicted

as Prospero (16 January 1864, p. 26), Othello (10 June 1865, p. 235), and lago (2 September 1865, p. 87). 57 Victor Hugo, Things Seen, trans. by David Kimber (Oxford University Press, 1964), p. 239. La Guerroniere, p. 21. See also Normanby, II, pp. 241-42; The Times, 31 August 1848, p. 6.

98

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Fun, 5 September 1868

Wtik ,

AN 11II'EItIA1.11A111,1ý1'; Cr, 3pall It be lihr4

--TO BN, CIR NOT TO UI. THAT 14 TUB 4UENTIONI'

THE LAST ACT UP TiM ITALIAN DRAMA. V-'WA A. RN "NINU LP PIN Till LA" ACT? ThI ACMTSCI ANN fl 1 . %U VlSi IYrAti{Mi 1, «.. NUi at., %ff-11191 11'. S Ali 511.1. Ii N1: aul.

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IYPITIIYTý"

Punch, October 1869.

99

M. LOUIS NAPOLEON,

PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SLEIGHT OP HAND, AND SLIGHT Or 11YZAYTUI110 F . Mr.,

)IINISTBRIAL AND MILITARY AUTOMATONÖ. Among the principal Tricks of the present season will be fonnd-

1. -Tb4 Inezba cable Ballot Box. From which eight millions of white balls will be produced; by a ooyp

di webe, which defies all detection. 2. -Tale Celebrated gun Trick.

(Aip"44o i 1N 2dd3n4yD+a. Mr, 1551, is do ewlw. Ni If Ark. ) In the course of this wonderful experiment, combining the obaracter-

Ltios of a crap d'e and 'a coup is t&, the spectators will have an opportunitr of atchisýI the bulleti in their own heads, so as to, lesve no doubt Of the reality of the experiment.

3. -Tbe Lutomatou Soldier. A piece of mechanism of the greatest perfeetioz6 ýwhich

will load his musket and fire it in the few of any person whom M. Loots Nator on may indlests.

4. The Ministerial Puppets. `

These little imitations of humanity will to through the whole official routine; and though without the smallest intelligence, will bow their wooden- heads, and sign decrees, or any other documents, at a more nod from their master.

Y. The Oataial Second Bight. M. Lome Nl=omtow will. with the aid of a police epý ls, read the

most privatepepers in the possession of individuals, endneaot only tell their thoughts, but transport them1 before they are aware of its to tsenue. and other remote regions, Ior having entertained the opinions which hu police spy-glass has made him acquainted with.

S. The Baeamotage d'w re Dame. Consisting of the total disappearance of L. Bills lhesng under a

dictatorial eitinguisher. The Tricks will be accompanied by all sorts of Airs, performed by a

Band of Military Instruments. Pisces can only be secured by application to äL Lottas Nuroraox.

No Mosey relic d. view Nobody. -- -- --_-

CO1nDYr10X TIN rise iavT.

" BsLr-razaxnvanox Is the First Law of Naturei" and that may be ode of the salons w6 sailors refuse to touch the' preserved meats" famished by the Admiralty.

Punch, February 1852.

Has the hur 0) to Warm the Pybiio that be iataude cautioning hh aztr ordin Performenoea, and PL+Tmg his w*noedemW Trý ý

notioe. The Programme will be selected from the unriTalled stock of usv

exams and IMP MTIONe6 which he has lately practised with so mac! success at Pari.. assisted by his unrivalled Collection of

100

- -- -- :- -- - .-

NAPOLEON III. Irv= POPULAR CARICATURES.

The earieatvist here introduces us to the Prince in decuin fly reduced circuno- rueeec Some sGowsna must be aside for drwatic elect to the dea7ed surroand- iegs, but it is on reoord that he vu often in doubt u to how the maue of the hour wen to be obtained. Musing thus in Lando; his ambition Is again revived.

!_ý ýý) ýD ý_: : ý, ýt

ýý'W,.. 0 , it e .� wio.. eoaoeeýw .'y rý a

The egt whul, ta wma. lut pidegmeda pn" .. aeptioas I Riace by appcarleg oa the

'

weeetha end l door of tb.

aQ op bchamber. N pence

m7bta bmt bird , ver

pophalec a great fate in floh for t. oru Napdew i the change ofop 4m In Frances the eight of the Qt4en Kie` i and tbt proclamation of a Republic. The exile at lest detccte canals glimpses of the for dadaad to Ode Mo to future Power-

w

BILL OF THE FRENCH PLAY. t

THEATRE FRANCAIS, ELYSEEI Sole Manager, M. Louis NAPOI. Eox BoxA. P, ºRTE.

Every Day, until a farther Corp d'dlat, will be presented the Laughable Farce, entitled, TEE FRENCH REPUBLIC; or, FB OM U YL TEß811 Principal Characters by MM. Louis NAromcox Bo r*P&xTr, Rou z; TURGOT, ST. AnNAUD, Duces, &c., and MI-- FORTUNE: together with a large corp of Supernumeraries.

In addition to whom, the Pcrforuianco will be supported by THE ENTIRE STRENGTH of THE THENCE ARMY !I!

To give every facility for Criticism, and the exercise of Unbiassed Opinion,

TIIZ PSLB LIBT, WITUQUT THE EICEPrIOi OP THE MESS, IS ENTAILLY 6USPENDED! H! I

". ' Ax preparatioe, aid will be dely announced, A Revival of the grand seriocomic-melo-drmatic Spectacle,

THE EMPIRE!!!! Liberty, Equality, FraternilyI (No: Moxey Rebried.

Punch, December 1851.

NAPOLEON ! U. from POPULAR CARICATURES. (180-1849-1

THE PRINCE PRESIDENT. (114&]

CALLW 70 PLAY A PART.

101

Literary Ancestry

Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, as a monologue featuring sophistry, self-revealment,

truth, and falsehood, has a number of antecedents. The earliest ancestor of dramatic

monologues is the Greco-Roman art of declamation. The practice had reached a high

point of sophistication during the reign of Augustus; it is not difficult to see how the art

would have served as a substitute for political oratory no longer advisable under a dictatorship 58 The most popular forms of declamation were suasoria and controversia. Controversia was a solitary effort in which the speaker created a role in order to

respond and defend against certain charges, usually in an imaginary setting of a civil or

criminal court. There is much similarity with Browning's poem. The practitioner of

controversia

may assume what he pleases as having been advocated against him. He cannot be refuted as there is no one to reply. The facts are admitted, there is no evidence, no witnesses to examine or cross- examine. His whole task is limited to that of construction of the facts. He does not speak in his own person but as one of the persons engaged in the suit. Hence he is partly an actor and he must speak as his assumed character would speak, that is, he is part dramatist as well. His speech is always a serious composition, at least for the great displays. It may be a very long thing, and does not appear ever to be short"

As a form of art and entertainment the topics and issues involved in the average

controversia usually took second place to the oratory. The court setting merely served

as a framework to display the art of the declaimer, giving him an opportunity of

showing the quality of his oratory and acting.

Suasoriae were a less popular form than controversiae. They were exercises practised in rhetorical schools to teach the pupils a balanced use of imagination and judgement in order to create a style that would be neither too ornate nor too pedantic. While the quality of the oratory was still the primary concern, the topics were of a more serious nature than those attempted in the controversiae. Suasoriae were monologues in which the pupil spoke as a historical or semi-historical character or gave advice to one. Typical situations for practice were Agamemnon contemplating the sacrifice of his daughter, or Sulla deciding whether or not to retire. 60

58 The Suasoriae of Seneca the Elder, ed. by William A. Edward (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928), pp. xvi-xvii. 59 Ibid., p. xxxii. 60 Ovid, Heroides� ed. by Arthur Palmer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1898) hereafter Palmer, p. xiii.

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The development from oratory to literature was brought about by Ovid. Inspired

by the Suasoriae, Ovid wrote his Epistles on the theme of unrequited love from the pen

of famous women in history and mythology. "The Epistles are really soliloquies, the

epistolary setting being little more than a mere form which gives an apparent reason for

these soliloquies being committed to writing at all. " Just as if the recipient is present

and is listening to the letter being written. Phaedra's letter to Hippolytus begins:

If thou'rt unkind, I ne'er shall health enjoy; Yet much I wish to thee, my lovely boy: Read this, and reading how my soul is seized, Rather than not, be with my ruin pleas'd: Thus secrets safe to farthest shores may move: By letters foes converse, and learn to love. 61

The unique feature of this new form was the depiction of the writer's emotions as a

means of character exposition. The letter from Deianeira (who had been tricked into

giving Hercules a poisoned shirt, believing it would restore her husband's love) shows Ovid's concern with character as she continues to "pour forth her soul" even after she has discovered that Hercules has died. 62

Why do I write these vain complaints to thee? Ev'n now I hear thou dy'st, and dy'st by me! Mine was the poisoned robe my husband wears, Whose hidden fire his crackling sinews tears. What have I done? What phrensy had possest My mind, and more than love enflant d my breast? Lifeless my lord on (Etna's top may lie, And yet, ah wretch! Dost doubt if thou should'st die? 63

The self-revealing characteristic of soliloquy was first categorized by St. Augustine,

who is also credited with the first use of the term. He posited that it was a form ideally

suited to "the search after truth": "I myself reply to questions put by myself. " It is ideal

because in a real interactive situation pathological fears of losing an argument with

another person generally prevents an honest and truthful (self-) inquiry. 64 It is an easy

step, as Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights discovered, to employ the theatrical

usage of the form to display the characters' mental state. Along with the great plays,

61 "Phaedra to Hippolytus", [trans. by Mr. Otway], Ovid's Epistles [trans. by Various Authors] Q. Walker, 1808), hereafter Epistles, p. 107. 62 Palmer, p. xi. 63 "Dejanira to Hercules", [trans. by Mr. Oldmixon], Epistles, pp. 135-36,11.222-29. 64 From St Augustine's Tiber Soliloquiorum, quoted in Houston Peterson, The Lonely Debate (New York: John Day, 1938), p. 22.

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the sixteenth century also had a tradition of political soliloquy. A Mirour For

Magistrates, first published in 1559, was a collection of soliloquies in which ghosts of

personages, from history and legend, would offer first-person apologies for their

careers. The morals of the stories had direct relevance to contemporary political

issues -Julius Caesar is made to conclude that fame, love of glory, power over men is

nothing: "Wracke not the Commonwealth. " Many of the characters share the Prince's

concern with facts, his pedigree, and a proper interpretation of his actions. King

Brennus wishes to recount "My facts, exploits in warre, my conquests life and end".

Like the Prince who can "scarcely over-estimate... My style and title" [293-94], Caesar is

aware of his reputation: "What need I first recite my pedigree well knowne? / My

praise I know in print through all the world is blowne. " A kindred spirit in suppressing

republics (that is to say, saving society), Caesar is also concerned that "ancient Romane

facts / Have come to pierce thine eares before this present time":

And yet because thou maist perceive the storie all Of all my life, and so deeme better of the end: I will againe the same to mind yet briefly call, To tell thee how thou waist me praise or discommend. Which when thou hast, in briefe, as I recite it, pend,

Thou shalt confesse that I deserved well, Amongst them heere my tragedie to tell.

Another maligned ruler is King John. Lack of facts and his enemies' falsehood has

damaged his reputation.

To whom shall I my many wrongs complaine? Since false traditions of those envious times, Invented by my foes, do yet remain, Living to every eye in forged rimes As matter for the sceane objecting crimes

Unto my charge, which firme in censure stands, Though nere enacted by my guiltlesse hands 65

John argues that he is blameless for Arthur's death and gives his version of events. Historically, Richard had named his nephew Arthur as heir, but had disinherited him

for his allegiance to Philip Augustus of France. After Richard's death, Philip, who had

supported Arthur for a while, makes peace with John and Arthur suspiciously disappears. In the poem John claims that during his meeting with Arthur "With gentle

speech thus did I him entreat; / But thus he made replie with many a threat". John is

65 john Higgins and others, A Mirour For Magistrates, ed. by Richard Niccols (Kyngston, 1610), Brennus (p. 86), Caesar (pp. 138-39, p. 130), John (pp. 682-86).

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momentarily enraged at Arthur's arrogance and claim that he is the rightful king, and

orders him to be blinded. But Herbert, thank God, understood the situation and "Prevented had what I in rage intended, / As reason would, his courage I

commended". Arthur actually died falling off the walls of Rouen Castle into the

"Seyne" while trying to escape, and Philip made certain that John was given the blame.

Shakespeare obviously did not believe a word. The influence between Elizabethan

plays and the political soliloquy must have been reciprocal to some extent. At least one

example of direct influence has survived. The Ghost of Richard the Third (1614) derives its

subject from Shakespeare's play and its form from the Mirour poems. In 1844 J. Payne

Collier was commissioned by the Shakespeare Society to edit an edition of the work. He writes in his introduction that

a narrative is constructed out of a drama, the writer availing himself of the popularity of the subject in order to attract public attention and interest. It is the only specimen of the kind, and of that date, in our language with which we are acquainted; for, although poems derived from history are sufficiently numerous, we know of none confessedly founded, as it were, upon a play 66

There is one contemporary work which is on Louis Napoleon and is formally

related to Browning's poem. The Sphinx was first published in 1860, at a time when

many in England feared a French invasion. 67 The work is a prose monologue (of some

eleven pages) in which Louis Napoleon muses on his career and motives. The setting is

the opposite of Browning's in that Louis Napoleon is depicted at the fortress of Ham

imagining his rise and career as the ruler of France-not so much an apology for past

actions, as a promise for the future. As the author explains in a brief introduction, the

prisoner determines "to while away time, feed fancy, revel in imagination, and lay a broad deep base for future superstructure":

His life and principles he studies to the very utmost; he masters his principles of thought; he dwells upon his name, his character, his actions, till he seems to himself to imbibe his very spirit; and at length his visions shape themselves in some such forms as these:

Whenever I may escape from prison I must bide a time of revolution.

66 The dedication of the poem is signed C. B., which Collier believes is Christopher Brooke. (Shakespeare Society, 1844), p. vi. 67 Joseph S. Phillips, Caesar. "Aut Caesar Aut Nullus. " The Sphinx (Macintosh, 1865). All quotations are from pp. 4-6 and p. 16. The original title of 1860 was changed in reference to Louis Napoleon's History of Julius Caesar (1865).

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Louis Napoleon proceeds to map out his history in a non-too-subtle manner:

Power in the shape of presidency must be my primary object. Position through the emperor's name - my name. This will answer to the first consulship; and once obtained, the whole is easy.

I will push forward views of peace; the promotion of universal prosperity. I will profess the utmost liberality. A hatred of commotions and of war. A love of commerce, arts, and sciences. Parks shall be made, palaces renovated: theatres built, the clergy flattered, the populace amused with progresses and pageantries, and Paris beautified. External policies shall all breathe peace; but while upholding peace I'll be preparing war... While beautifying Paris I will cut it through and through with ranges for artillery ... I will flatter and promote all priests awhile, for they are powerful in country places; but I will keep my eye upon them ... I will caress the leaders of the Press... When I have power I will deal with them; and to obtain that power, the army shall be one of my chiefest cares.

Unlike in Browning's work, there is no attempt to create a believable character. Any

dramatic usage which might have been derived from the contrast between Louis

Napoleons plans (in 1840) and what the reader already knows (in 1860) is sacrificed to

the author's biased animosity. Louis Napoleon's actions are presented as always

selfishly motivated and his thirst for power and glory verges on the insane. The

ultimate aim, of course, is to dominate the world, "like unto God, my power universal",

and bear all that power to destroy perfidious Albion. The author does try to end the

soliloquy on a dramatic note:

But soft- I dream- I am but captive now! Well, well, all's one for that. I'll let time shape; and there-an end.

Now to my studies!

Browning may or may not have been aware of The Sphinx; the quality of the work does not make an attribution of influence relevant.

I have traced certain works which are related to Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau in their

form and content to suggest possible influences, and to lend authority to the form by

placing the poem within an historical tradition. The immediate precursor to the formal

trick of Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, however, can be found in Browning's own work-

the monologue of "Juris Doctor Johannes-Baptista Bottinius". The MS of The Ring and

the Book shows that Bottini's preface to his defence (U. 1-16) was a later addition. 68

68 On the first page of the MS, a version of 11.1-16 is added in the margin, with instructions to insert at the beginning. This is crossed out. The published version of the lines is glued to the back of the first page. The line numbering reflects the change: the printer, having noted the crossed-out marginal insertion on the first page, had assigned line 1 to "Have ye seen, Judges".

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Had I God's leave, how I would alter things! If I might read instead of print my speech, - Ay, and enliven speech with many a flower Refuses obstinately blow in print

5 As wildings planted in a prim parterre, - This scurvy room were turned an immense hall; Opposite, fifty judges in a row; This side and that of me, for audience - Rome: And, where yon window is, the Pope should be -

10 Watch, curtained, but yet visibly enough. A buzz of expectation! Through the crowd, jingling his chain and stumping with his staff, Up comes an usher, louts him low, "The Court Requires the allocution of the Fisc! "

15 I rise, I bend, I look about me, pause O'er the hushed multitude: I count-One, two-

Have ye seen, judges, have ye, lights of law, -

In other words, instead of the explanatory opening lines, Browning at first intended the

poem to begin with, "Have ye seen judges... " The reader, then, would have had to

discover that the prosecutor ("the Fisc") is not in reality in court addressing the Pope,

the judges, and the Roman crowd, but in his office pretending and amusing himself. 69

Bottini's crude language, his flippant references to the Pope ("The Pope, you know, is

Neapolitan / And relishes a sea-side simile" [372-73]), his increasingly vicious attacks

on his opposite number ("my fat opponent... thou Archangelic swine! " [945-471) would have alerted the reader that something was amiss, but he would not have known for

certain until the very end:

There's my oration-much exceeds in length That famed Panegyric of Isocrates, They say it took him fifteen years to pen. But all those ancients could say anything! He put in just what rushed into his head, While I shall have to prune and pare and print. This comes of being born in modem times With priests for auditory. Still, it pays.

[1570-77]

However, after turning the page and seeing the new lines glued on the back, he crossed out his original markings and began anew. 69 The average reader of Browning's poem would not have known that in the eighteenth-century Italian legal system all arguments by lawyers were submitted to the judges in a written form only.

107

Notice that the ending of both poems is similar. There is an allusion to their length

through a classical example (for Homer, read Isocrates), and a reminder of the practical

nature of the protagonists ("Twenty years are good gain, come what come will! ", "Still,

it pays"). However, "The letter goes! Or stays? " rhyming with "Still, it pays", is most

likely a coincidence. Browning may have thought that The Ring and the Book was innovative enough and

did not require further formal complications. Whatever the reasons for providing the

clarifying sixteen lines of Bottini's act, delaying the trick led to an improvement. The

opening lines of Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau perform a similar function in setting the

scene, but they are presented with such craft that (at first reading) they maintain

Browning's and the Prince's illusion. Given the poem's history, perhaps they were too

subtle.

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Chapter 4

Topicality

You've read a ton's weight, now, of newspaper - Lives of me, gabble about the kind of prince - You know my work i' the rough.

[222-24]

In December 1848 when Louis Napoleon was proclaimed President of France in the

National Assembly, the correspondent of The Times predicted that henceforth the

president's

every act and word will be recorded in ten million memoirs for or against the object of a continual and overwhelming scrutiny, and France will soon know what manner of man she has summoned to the helm. Louis Napoleon will cease to be a name worshipped with mysterious indistinctness. Even the calumnies and the gossip with which faction has assailed him as a dangerous pretender will soon give place to more serious matters .1

He was half right. For the next twenty-two years, up to the fall of the Second Empire in

1870, Louis Napoleon's career, nearly every move and every word, was reported,

recorded, depicted, scrutinized and examined in newspapers, journals, pamphlets,

books, and, after his death, in many memoirs and biographies. For most of his reign he

was by far the most observed and talked-about ruler in Europe. Nonetheless, apart

from the extreme cases of hate and worship, most people found it impossible to form a

definite opinion as to "what manner of man" Louis Napoleon was. His proficiency in

the art of diplomatic maneuvering, his pathological reticence in revealing or sharing

his (true) intentions, and his self-sufficiency, as the highest authority in the land, all

served to enhance his image of inscrutability. Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau is

Browning's stab at, if not solving the riddle, at least showing the man in action.

121 December 1848, p. 4.

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The poem, with this background of over-exposure, is spoken by a living historical

personage at a specific point in time. Its topicality and its allusions to Louis Napoleon's

tendencies and mannerisms help create a real and believable character. His interests are

often reflected in metaphors and imagery of his language: agriculture (man as salts,

silts, subsoil, [95-110]); industry (society as a machine [466-681); science, especially

chemistry which he had practiced to pass the time in prison (society as a chemical

experiment [629-31]); architecture (society as a temple [658]); archeology (Laocobn

[1183-98], Clitumnus temple [1983-2018]); perfunctory interest in the arts ("I'm no

poet" [108]). Louis Napoleon's notoriety as a womanizer would partly account for his

choice of such a female companion in his reverie, or for his metaphor of France as a languorous woman, sprawled in an arm-chair [1660-62]. Given the Emperor's interest

in antiquity, the readers of the Athenaeum would not have been surprised by its report

on the discovery of a Roman site in Paris: "all the world, with the Emperor and the

savants at its head, is rushing to the ruins. "2 The Emperor's predilection for cigars,

smoothing his moustache, or habit of staying awake at night, were familiar territory.

The Prince's reverie can conclude with daybreak [2137-38] because it was well known

that the Emperor kept late hours during which he would both indulge in day-dreams

and decide state policy. The first official biography (sanctioned by the Empress) after his death tells how, even before his sickness was at an advanced stage, it was his habit

to retire early and spend many hours in his room: "he loved the quiet hours in his

snuggery, amid the tumbled masses of papers, books, and models; where he could

indulge in waking dreams. "3 Zola, the literary chronicler of the Second Empire, has one

of his characters anxiously watching the Emperor's lit window at night, knowing that

"Napoleon frequently came to important determinations during the night. It was at

night that he signed his decrees, wrote his manifestoes and dismissed his ministers. "4

In the poem the Prince smokes throughout the night. Cigars, besides serving as temporal markers in the poem, were immediately associated with the Emperor. In 1869

the poor health of the Emperor was common knowledge, but Punch was not convinced. It reported that he had "this morning smoked three whiffs of a cigar. This is a

convincing sign of his amendment, and it may be asserted without fear of contradiction,

2 23 April 1870, p. 554. 3 Blanchard Jerrold, The Lifte of Napoleon 111,4 vole (Longman, 1874-82), hereafter Jerrold, IV, p. 275.

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that the prophecies of the alarmists have had an end in smoke. "5 Whether in

caricatures or in writing, he was more often than not depicted with a cigar. In

Buchanan's Napoleon Fallen [p. 7] this is the first mention of the defeated Emperor:

I saw him walking, yesterday. He is much aged of late, they say - He stoops much, and his features are Gray like the ash of the cigar He smokes for ever.

The Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph remembers seeing him in a carriage

coming down the Champs Elysees in happier times:

In the front sat a gentleman in a brown great coat; on his head a wide- awake, with a partridge's wing in it, in his mouth a very long cigar. If the early walker looked again, he would have perceived that the smoker of that cigar was the Emperor Napoleon "on pleasure bent" - out for a day's shooting. 6

Similarly characteristic was Louis Napoleon's habit of pulling smooth and pinching

his "moustache to a point" [44]. A typical reference would have him "inscrutable as

ever, twirling his moustache, and thinking what he shall do next"? Charles Sumner

wrote to William Wetmore Story that "the Emperor was for some time at the corner

near me... he was occupied in twirling and smoothing his mustache". The local gossip

after Villafranca, according to EBB, was "how the Emperor told the King of the peace

over the soup, twirling his moustache; and how the King swore like a trooper at the

Emperor in consequence; and how the Emperor took it all very well" .8 Victor Hugo,

alluding to the coup d'etat, likened the action to that of a wolf licking and cleaning a

bloody snout: "Stroking his mustache, he says -I have saved Order! "9 Such was the

association that the word became a synecdoche. For Hugo he was "Cesar Moustache".

4 His Excellency Eugene Rougon [Son Excellence Eugene Rougon] (Vizetelly, 1887), hereafter Rougon, p. 188. First published in 1876. 59 October 1869, p. 137. 6 Whitehurst, I, p. 147. 7 David Masson, "Politics of the Present, Foreign and Domestic", MM, 1 (1859-60), hereafter Masson, Politics of the Present, 1-10 (p. 3). 8 Henry James, William Wetmore Story and His Friends, 2 vols (Blackwood, 1903), II, p. 44. To Isa Blagden, [6-71 September 1859 [Checklist, p. 253, n. 59: 183], Kenyon, II, p. 339.

III

Prosper Merimee reported to Panizzi in 1859 that "the Emperor is more popular that

ever. A workman was heard to say, 'Moustache is the man for us; he is the ditto of his

uncle. "10

A final point that needs to be mentioned is the danger, for the modern reader, of

misunderstanding. For example, in the poem there is much emphasis on the Prince's

conservatism and the charges of inaction. The reader might easily assume that Louis

Napoleon's reputation was one of timidity and over-caution. In fact he was viewed as

capable of sudden and decisive action. As one of the victims of the coup d'ttat, Victor

Hugo knew this from personal experience: "he lies mute and motionless, looking in the

opposite direction to his object, until the hour for action comes; then he turns his head,

and leaps upon his prey ... Up to that point, there is the least possible movement. "11

Louis de la GueronniLre, editor of le Pays and a leading supporter of the regime among

journalists, wrote Napoleon the Third in reply to Victor Hugo's book. He also points out

the same characteristic, but without the predatory imagery:

In all these grave and decisive hours his firmness, his determination, wakes up to activity, but noiselessly, without any tumult or outbreak. His object gained, as suddenly he rests again. No! He prepares and plans, in seeming repose, for the next event. This apparent want of power to take the lead is the acme of perfection in prudence. 12

And Louis Napoleon himself, announcing the war with Austria to the nation,

proclaimed: "up to this point moderation has been the rule of my conduct; now energy

becomes my main duty. "13 The Prince rightly boasts that his action causes fear and

"strikes the panic" [844] to the heart of the Papacy. The Times warned that "if the

Emperor goes to the work as he can go to his work, the Pope has much more to fear

from Napoleon than Napoleon has to fear from the Pope". 14 The point to remember is

that when the Prince's critics complain, "Is your choice made? Why then, act up to

choice! " [797], they are objecting to his unpredictability, not his lack of action.

9 "Comme un loup qui se leche apres qui'il vient de mordre, /Carressant sa moustache, il dit- j'ai sauv6 fordre! " "Nox" [VI, 9-10], Les Chätiments (Jeffs, 1862), hereafter Chätiments, p. 11. 10 "Splendeurs" [H, 181, Chätiments, p. 72.29 April 1859, Letters of Prosper Merimee to Panizzi, ed. by Louis Fagin, 2 vole (Remington, 1881), hereafter Panizzi, I, p. 39. 11 Napoleon the Little, p. 30. 12 La Geoniere, p. 22. 13 "Jusqu'ici la moderation a la regle de ma conduite; maintenant 1'lnergie devient mon premier devoir", Proclamation to the French People, 3 May 1859, Oeuvres, V, p. 78.

112

Another possible area of misinterpretation is the level of irony with which one may

respond to the Prince. A case in point is the reference to the political/social theorists,

Charles Fourier (1772-1837) and Auguste Comte (1798-1857): "Let us not risk the whiff

of my cigar / For Fourier, Comte, and all that ends in smoke! " [438-39]. Fourier and

Comte were among the better-known Utopian writers who, following in the steps of

Saint-Simon, tried to devise systems of social interaction and behaviour which would

improve society. Fourier, a founding father of modern socialism, had proposed the

modification of the environment in such a way as to allow the creation of small, self-

sufficient units where the work and occupation of the members would be marked by

moderation, diversity, and enjoyment. Comte, the creator of Positivism, had suggested

the application of a scientific methodology to solve the problems of society. He was

specifically concerned with creating a structure which would define the nature of

leadership in a progressive and industrial society. 15 Imperial rule shared aspects of

Positivistic theory. Both emphasized the importance of tradition and ritual (religion)

for a tranquil and united society; both believed that individualism, in all its forms,

should be sacrificed for the benefit of community; both regarded democracy as

inefficient, and believed that the best way to achieve order and progress is for the more

gifted members of the race to rule. The connection with Fourier is based on Louis

Napoleon's own socialist writing. In 1844, to express his concern for the welfare of the

working classes, he had written a pamphlet entitled Extinction of Pauperism in which he

proposed government sponsoring of agricultural units to work the country's

uncultivated lands. This, he stated, would solve the problems of unemployment and

poverty and lead to a general increase of skilled labour. One reviewer advised "anyone

who is in want of a good whopping example" of Socialism to read the pamphlet.

Another charged him with hypocrisy and noted the "remarkable inconsistency to find

him, within half-a-dozen years afterward as one engaged upon a 'mission' against

Socialism" 16 It would be a mistake to interpret the Prince's reference to the two

theorists as a deeply ironic moment in which he both refutes his convictions and dismisses his intellectual debts. It would be pointless to accuse him of hypocrisy

1412 January 1860, p. 8. 15 See Theodore Zeldin, France 1848-1945,2 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973-77), I, pp. 432- 61, II, pp. 595-97. Frederic Harrison, "The Fall of the Commune", FR, n. s. 10 (1871), 129-55 (p. 155). 16 David Masson, "The Writings of Louis-Napoleon", MM, 1(1859-60), 161-73 (p. 168). P1lW, II, p. 94.

113

because he is merely repeating the view Louis Napoleon had expressed on many an

occasion, and the Prince does repeatedly throughout his monologue - that social

philosophies are fine on paper, but the practical world is a great deal more difficult to

manipulate. In fact Louis Napoleon claimed that adhering to impractical social theories

was a flaw in a leader. In his most famous speech he proudly told an enthusiastic

crowd that

disillusioned by absurd theories, the people have acquired the conviction that those pretended reformers were but dreamers; for there was always inconsistency, disproportion between their means and the results they promised. Today France surrounds me with its sympathies, because I do not belong to the family of ideologists. To do good for the country, it is not necessary to apply new systems; but to give, first of all, confidence in the present, security for the future. This is why France seems to want a return to Empire. 17

The modem reader would miss the significance and flavour of many of the

references and allusions that for a contemporary would conjure up specific associations.

Understanding, enjoyment, and appreciation of the poem is proportionally dependent

upon the degree of familiarity with its world. In this chapter I follow certain non-

literary allusions, under headings taken from the poem, to show why Browning has

used them, and how they serve to enhance the scenery - and effect- of the poem.

"Crowned the edifice" [motto]

The crowning of the edifice sets the tone for the sense of irony which reverberates

throughout the poem: the contrast between the Prince's claims and the reality of Louis

Napoleon's career. The expression "to crown" something was a cliche of the period. In

Louis Napoleon's own writings one finds instances like "yes, the day will come.. . when

glory will crown liberty". Or Victor Hugo: "despotism, that ancient edifice restored,

once more dominated Europe, more solid in appearance than ever, with the death of ten

17 "Desabuse d'absurdes theories, le peuple a acquis la conviction que les reformateurs pretendus n'etaient que des r8veurs, car il y avait toujours inconsequence, disproportion entre leur moyens et les resultats promis. Aujourd'hui la France m'entoure de ses sympathies, parce que je ne suis pas de la famine des ideologues. Pour faire le bien du pays, il n'est pas besoin d'appliquer de nouveaux systemes; mail de donner, avant tout, confiance dann le present, securite daps l'avenir. Voill pourquoi la France semble vouloir revenir ä l'Empire", Speech to the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, 9 October 1852, Oeuvres, III, p. 342.

114

nations for its base, and the crime of Bonaparte to crown it. "18 The derivation is

probably by way of academia where "crowning" was used in relation to awards, similar

to the English usage of "laureate" -as in being awarded a crown of laurel. Thus Victor

Hugo's Moise Sur Le Nil (Paris: Guiraudet, 1822), an "ode couronne par 1'Academie des

Jeux Floreaux".

Louis Napoleon's expression, to which the motto alludes, was "to crown the

political edifice". He used it seldom, but it was taken up by others and popularized as a

convenient reference to his promise of granting more liberty -especially to the press.

The expression, by and by, became at best a cliche, at worst, a joke. Browning once

wished a French neighbour of his (at Warwick Crescent) who had asked Browning's

permission to put up an inscription, "success of this 'couronnement de l'edifice"'. 19 On

being presented with the results of the 1851 plebiscite, Louis Napoleon replied that he

would now implement the "universal desire" of a strong and respected government,

and would create a system constituting authority without damaging equality or

opportunities for improvement. He would establish "the true basis of the only edifice

capable of later supporting a wise and beneficent liberty" 20 He reiterated his view

officially in February 1853 during the speech on the opening of the Legislative

Assembly. In reply to why he had not been able to grant more liberty, he said: "liberty

has never facilitated the founding of the durable political edifice; she crowns it when

time has stabilized it. "21 In other words, too much liberty too soon is counter-

productive and will lead to chaos and instability; it is only when society has reached a

proper level of political maturity that it can be trusted to direct its own affairs. The

irony in the poem is by way of the allusion to the temptation which almost seduces the

Head-servant. He longs to take control, restore order, and announce to the country, "Some fine day, / Once we are rid of the embarrassment, / You shall look up and see

18 "Oui, le jour viendra... oýl la gloire couronnera la libert6", "Reveries Politiques", Oeuvres, I, p. 377. "Le despotisme, vied Edifice restaure, dominait de nouveau l'Europe, plus solide en apparence que jamais, avec le meurtre de dix nations pour base et le crime de Bonaparte pour couronnement", Victor Hugo, Vingt-troisieme anniversaire de la revolution Polonaise (Brussels: Imprimerie universelle, 1854), p. 3. Published in English as The Prospects of Republicanism (Watson, 1854), pp. 4-5. 19 To Chevalier de Chatelain, 1 December 1870, MS at Boston University. 20 "Les veritables bases du seul edifice capable de supporter plus tard une liberte sage et bienfaisante", Oeuvres, III, p. 283. The Times, 3 January 1852, p. 6. 21 ["A ceux qui regretteraient qu'une part plus large n'ait pas the feite ä la libert6, je r6pondrais] La liberte n'a jamais aide ä fonder d'6difice politique durable: eile le couronne quand le temps 1'a consolide", Oeuvres, III, p. 362.

115

your longings crowned! " [1283-85]. But the Head-servant is aware of the dangers

inherent in such breaking of the law, no matter how seemingly necessary and beneficial.

"Such fancy may have tempted to be false, / But this man chose truth and was wiser

so" [1286-871.

The best that can be said for Louis Napoleon is that he did follow his plan, despite

resistance from his more reactionary ministers, of a gradual increase in liberal

concessions. The Times had warned him in 1859 that he would be trusted only if he

gained no territory from the war with Austria, left the Italians to their own, became

more liberal, concentrated on the prosperity of France, did not alarm anybody, and

"makes the first step to crowning with liberty the edifice he has raised" 22 Louis

Napoleon managed to fulfil some of those conditions, at least. A passage from Zola,

describing a cabinet meeting, shows the choices and difficulties Louis Napoleon was

faced with. The reactionary interior minister, Rougon, is arguing against the liberal

views of Delestang, the minister in charge of commerce and agriculture:

"The day when your Majesty may consider it your duty to restore to the nation the most harmless of its liberties, on that day you will be committed to everything. One liberty cannot be granted without a second; then comes a third one, and everything is ultimately swept away, both institutions and dynasties. "

Delestang agrees that

"the principle of authority should not be shaken, but there is no necessity for systematically shutting the door upon all public liberties. The Empire is like some great place of refuge, some vast and magnificent building, the indestructible foundations of which His Majesty has laid with his own hands. He is still engaged in raising its walls. But the day will come when his task will be finished, and he will have to think of how he can crown his edifice, anditisthen-

"Never! " Rougon interrupted, violently. "The whole thing will topple down! "

The Emperor stretched out his hand to stop the discussion. He was smiling and seemed to be waking up from a reverie.

"Well, well, " he said, "we are getting away from immediate affairs. We will see about all this later on. "23

22 1July1859, p. 9. 23 Rougon, pp. 311-13. The Times also discussed the Emperor's difficulties, see 23 October 1863, p. 8.

116

The first series of liberal concessions came in 1860 when, with victory in Italy, a

treaty of commerce with England, and Savoy and Nice in his empire he was in a

generous mood. New power was granted to "the political bodies to examine freely all

the actions of the government" with the object of "the shedding of light for the country

on the great questions which today trouble the spirit"24 The concessions were of small

practical value since examination was the only power they conferred. The Legislative

Body, according to the Emperor,

discusses the laws with the most complete freedom: if they are rejected, it is a warning which the Government takes into account; but this rejection does not shake the power, does not halt the march of affairs, and does not oblige the Sovereign to take for councillors men whom he does not trust 25

However, the debates in the Assembly were allowed to be reported in the daily press

and the new power did mark the very important first step towards open criticism of

government policy. An excited EBB wrote to Julia Martin that "my Emperor is

'crowning the edifice'; it is the beginning". 26

Louis Napoleon was reluctant to (and never did) relinquish real power, but it was a "beginning". After the 1863 elections dissenting voices, for the first time, were tolerated

in the Assembly -what came to be known as the "Liberal Opposition" 27 But by 1867,

while opposition members like Thiers were openly criticizing the coup d'6tat of 1851, he

24 "Le nouveau droit donne aux corps politiques d'examiner liberement tous le actes du Gouvernement a eu pour but d'eclairer le pays sur le grandes questions qui agitent aujourd'hui les esprits", Speech to to the Senate, 8 March 1861, La Politique Imperiale exposee par les discours et proclamations de l'Empereur Napoleon III (Paris: Plon & Amyot, 1868), p. 174. 25 Speech on the opening of the Legislative Assembly, 4 February 1861: "11 discute les loin avec la plus entiere libertes : si elles sont repoussees, c'est un avertissement dont le Gouvernement tient compte; mais ce rejet n'bbranle pas le pouvoir, n'arrete pas la marche des affaires, et n'oblige pas le Souverain ä prendre pour conseillers des hommes qui n'auraient pas sa confiance", Oeuvres, V, p. 133. 26 April 1861, Kenyon, II, p. 440. 27 See L'Opposition liberale en 1863 (Paris: Dentu, 1863), p. 7: "Apres douze ans dun sommeil en apparence profond, mais en realite bien leger, Is France liberale, le vraie France, s'est enfin et tout a coup revei le. " For an analysis of the decrees of 1860 and 1863 see The Times, 23 October 1863, p. 8.

117

still felt that France was not ready to manage without his guidance. 28 As for the press,

the problem was one of approach, not principle:

My embarrassment on the subject of a press law is not where to find the power to repress, but how to define in a law the offences which deserve repression. The most dangerous articles may escape repression while the most insignificant may provoke prosecution. This has always been the difficulty. Nevertheless, in order to strike the public mind by decisive measures, I should like to effect, at one stroke, what has been called the crowning of the edifice. I should like to do this, at once and for ever; for it is important to me, and it is important, above all, to the country, to be finally fixed. 29

The necessity, apart from Louis Napoleon's genuine liberal tendencies, was also due to

his growing ill health and the unpopularity of the regime. Nine days later a letter to the Minister of State was published announcing more concessions. It ended with:

I said, last year, that my Government wished to walk upon a firm ground, capable of supporting power and liberty. By the measures I have just pointed out my words become realized, I do not shake the grounds which fifteen years of calm and prosperity have consolidated, I further assert it by rendering my relations with the great public powers more intimate, by assuring the citizens of fresh guarantees by law, by finally completing the crowning of the edifice erected by the national will. 30

The new measures mainly dealt with the conditions under which the Assembly might be allowed to put questions to the Government. It was another two years before any decisive steps were taken. The increasingly ferocious attacks on the government (possible due to a decrease in press restrictions in 1868), the growing dissatisfaction of the workers, and the government' s poor showing in the 1869 elections, convinced Louis

Napoleon that the time for the "one stroke" had come. Punch, at the end of a poem

28 During a reference to the event Thiers interrupted, "Let us forget", which "caused great excitement", AR (1867), p. 222. 29 To Emile Ollivier, 12 January 1867, Jerrold, N, pp. 383_84. 30 "J'ai dit, l'annee derniere, que mon Gouvernement voulait marcher sur un sol affermi, capable de supporter le pouvoir et la liberty. Par les mesures que je viens d'indiquer mes paroles se realisent, je n'ebranle pas le sol que quinze annees de calme et de prosperite ont consolide, je l'affermis davantage en rendant plus intimes mes rapports avec les grands pouvoirs publics, en assurant par la loi aux citoyens des garantier nouvelles, en achevant enfin le couronnement de l'edifice elevt par la volontb nationale", Oeuvres, V, p. 277. The Times, 21 January 1867, p. 7.

118

entitled "Now Crown Your Edifice", advised him on the best path to follow in dealing

with the "growing Opposition":

Now will you try to put that down by physical repression, And force of arms; or mean you to disarm it by concession? You are a clever fellow. Nay, I don't intend to flatter. You can see how the cat jumps. I should think you'd do the latter.

Then, if you fail you'll nobly fail! If you succeed or no, it Is sure you'll be a hero for historian and for poet. Sire, you will be immortalized, the Edifice for crowning, By Tupper and Tennyson, by Close, and me, and Browning. 31

Seldom is Punch so polite, and its plea was not in vain. In March 1870 Louis

Napoleon wrote to his prime minister, reminding him of the necessary reasons why he

had kept power in his own hands up till now, and telling him that the time had come to

instigate constitutional changes which would fulfil the promise of liberty he had given

eighteen years before:

The Constitution of 1852 was intended, above all things, to confer on the Government the means of re-establishing authority and order. It had necessarily to remain susceptible of improvement so long as the state of the country should not permit the establishment of public liberty on solid foundations; but at the present time, when successive transformations have led to the creation of a constitutional system in harmony with the basis of the plebiscitum, it is important to.. . restore to the nation that part of the constituent faculty which it had delegated to other hands. 32

New legislation was introduced which reduced the authoritarian nature of the regime

and brought about the all too short period called the Liberal Empire. On 8 May, in a Proclamation to the Nation, he repeated the contents of the letter in proper, passionate language and asked the people to vote on the new legislation-33 Few believed that

France was ready for a parliamentary system, and the main purpose of the new

constitution was to encourage co-operation between the Emperor and Assembly The

31 Punch, 5 June 1869, p. 230. In 1863 the regime had polled 5,150,000 against the opposition's 1,660,000; in 1869 it was 4,440,000 against 3,320,000. Edward Spender, "Fall of the Second Empire", LQR, 69 (1870), hereafter Spender, Fall of the Second Empire, 21-64 (p. 43). 32 To Ollivier, 21 March 1870, AR (1870), pp. 137-38. 33 AR (1870), pp. 140-41.

119

Emperor maintained control of the armed forces, ministerial appointments, and the

right to appeal to the nation, but he would choose his ministers from the Assembly.

11a1. tc 111 UL till t'J:. I'. t(al..

"Napoleon was in a way the focus around which all the national forces grouped themselves" [Oeuvres, I, p. 115]. Poster commemorating the 1870 plebiscite and the Liberal Empire.

The logic behind this system was that the Emperor, to ensure a functioning government,

would choose his ministers from those who represented the majority and enjoyed the

120

confidence of the Assembly. M Another important development in the new measures

was the transfer of constitutional power from the Senate, whose members were chosen

by the Emperor, to the Legislative Assembly, whose members were elected officials.

The correspondent of The Times reported that "the Emperor of the French has satisfied

the utmost hopes of those who are labouring for the full re-establishment of

Constitutional Government in France" 35 Punch was quick to express its appreciation

(though with a sting: "since tyranny didn't work, logic dictates to grant liberty") and

produced "Coronation in France", ending:

Then Caesar took a spacious view; He granted their demands,

And liberty, in season due, Restored with open hands.

For common sense o'er Caesar's acts Extensively presides;

He goes where Logic, force of facts Inexorable, guides.

Long life to Caesar, who his throne Doth, as his saddle, sit

To manage Frenchmen he alone As yet has had the wit.

At last he does what he was bound, By plighted word, to do,

And now the edifice is crowned, Perhaps he'll be so too 36

At the beginning of 1870 the number of opposition deputies in the Assembly had

increased along with growing social dissatisfaction. The police were busier than ever

confronting strikes and riots. The recent lifting of the press laws did not prevent

prosecution, and greatly added to the general dissatisfaction. 37 However, on the

surface, the regime appeared secure. Louis Napoleon had kept his word, crowned the

34 Theodore Zeldin, The Political System of Napoleon III (Macmillan, 1958), pp. 151-53. 35 23 March 1870, p. 9. For a list of the new powers of the Assembly see 14 July 1869, p. 5, and 5 August 1869, p. 5. 36 2 April 1870, p. 48. 37 Spender, Fall of the Second Empire, p. 51. See the preface to Eustace C. Grenville Murray, Men of the Second Empire (Smith, Elder, 1872) for an entertaining account of the opposition, and the corruption in the civil service, and the scandals which were catching up with the regime in 1869- 70. These were first published in the Pall Mall Gazette which Browning is said to have described as "the perfection of a paper for people who wanted to know what was going on in the world, as

121

edifice as promised, consolidated his position, and increased his prestige. The Times

wrote:

The Emperor is as much at home and at his ease in his new character of constitutional Sovereign as in his old one of a despot... We have

entered upon a new era; for the last eleven weeks we have been living

a new life, and upon no one has the change produced a more striking effect than on the Emperor himself ... He seems better in spirits as well as in health, and to have taken ... a new lease of life, as he assuredly has secured his lease of power and greatly augmented the popularity which personally he cannot be said to have ever entirely forfeited. 38

The war with Prussia was declared a few months later. The profound sense of wasted

opportunity, and the atrocities of the war and the Paris Commune explain Browning's

anger at "the wretched impostor and all his works" 39 Louis Napoleon's final legacy to

France was not the peace, order, and liberty he had always promised, but a defeat and

humiliation unprecedented in the country's history. By 1871 the ironic connotations of

the Emperor's "crowning" were firmly established. Even publications favourable to the

regime could not help but use the expression. The ILN reported on "that crowning

political event of the late war between Germany and France, the formal surrender of the

Emperor Napoleon Ill. to the King of Prussia" 40 At suggestions of a revival of the

Empire, which had been in the news for a period after the war, Browning, passed

beyond anger, could only resort to disgust and sarcasm. He told Isa that the Emperor,

"if France likes, may try and do what he can once more at the 'edifice, ' with all the

advantages of old age and decayed faculty" 41

Browning did immortalize the Emperor - as Punch had predicted - for a crowning

of the Edifice. What makes Browning's trick more effective and the irony more

profound is the reader's sudden realization that the man who has been speaking the

poem is not one who has very recently "with ills" crowned the edifice -but one who is

a man might learn it at a club or over a dinner-table; not as it was furnished by reading-rooms or news agencies", Duffy, II, p. 259, quoted in Griffin and Minchin, p. 290. 38 24 March 1870, p. 10. 39 23 January 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 356. For a detailed, contemporary account of the war see William Simpson, A Souvenir of the War of 1870-1 (Maclure, Macdonald & Macgregor, 1871). 40 22 April 1871, p. 382. 41 25 April, 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 357. The Bonapartists were heavily defeated in the elections of 1871, see ILN, 14 October 1871, p. 350, and 28 October 1871, p. 398.

122

just about to do so. The sending of the letter which will result in the destruction of the

very scene of his "revealment"42

"A pork-pie hat and crinoline" [71

The Prince imagines his companion to be wearing a pork-pie hat and crinoline. To

the contemporary reader this description immediately marks her as a prostitute.

According to Mayhew such women were a common sight around Leicester Square in

the early 1860s.

The second class of prostitutes who walk the Haymarket -the third class in our classification-generally come from the lower orders of society. They consist of domestic servants of a plainer order, the daughters of the labouring people, and some of a still lower class. Some of these girls are of a very tender age-from thirteen years and upwards. You see them wandering along Leicester Square, and about the Haymarket, Tichbourne Street, and Regent Street. Many of them are dressed in a light cotton or merino gown, and ill-suited crinoline, with light grey, or brown cloak, or mantle. Some with pork-pie hat, and waving feather-white, blue, or red; others with a slouched straw-hat 43

It was also common practice to use classical names-especially in print-when referring

to prostitutes. Mayhew explains that the euphemisms denoted both profession and

class:

Lais, when under the protection of a prince of the blood; Aspasia, whose friend is one of the most influential noblemen in the kingdom; Phryne, the chere amie of a well-known officer in the guards, or a man whose wealth is proverbial on the Stock Exchange and the city. 44

The Prince, in elevating her companion to LaYs status, is being both kind and conscious

of his own social standing. And perhaps she does deserve more explanation.

42 The Tuileries was burned down in May 1871 during the last days of the Commune. See ILN, 10 June 1871, pp. 576-80; Debdde, p. 513. 43 Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, 4 vols (Griffin, Bohn, 1861-62), IV, pp. 358- 59. 44 Ibid., p. 215.

123

Crinoline was in fashion for some ten years beginning from 1855 when Empress

Eugenie made it popular at the French court. 45 From the 1840s onwards the fashion in

skirts had been one of increasing size and circumference which required the support of

ever more and more layers of petticoats. The crinoline, with its light framework, was

developed to simplify the necessary modifications. It soon made its way across the

channel, most notably on the person of the Empress herself, during the royal visit to

Britain in April 1855.46 Under her patronage it soon became a symbol of the Second

Empire. At the end of another visit to Britain, in 1860, she was seen off at the railway

platform amid cries of "Vive la France! Vive la Crinoline! "47 A pamphlet entitled The

First and Second Empire of Crinoline recounts how "the court ladies of Madagascar, on

receiving from the Emperor of the French, among other presents, a consignment of

Thomson's Crinolines, persisted in wearing them outside the dress, in order that they

might not be concealed from the admiring glances of their friends, and those luckless

fair ones who were doomed to crinolineless discontent".

Since Paris was the centre of the fashion world, and the taste of the Empress "law

for all the female community, not only in France, but in all civilised countries" 49

crinoline was soon worn throughout Europe. In 1857 EBB reports from Florence to her

sister that

everyone now is fasting and sighing, -and enlarging their petticoats, Henrietta: and by the way, to what circumference we shall come at last, it is hard to prophecy. The least advanced of my female friends, here, are in whalebone, and the others armed "in complete steel. " I

45 Crinoline was not invented by the Empress, but was an extension of the earlier farthingale, hoop, and panier. See W. B. L., The Corset and the Crinoline (Ward, 1868) (reissued in 1870 as The Freaks of Fashion), a thorough and serious history of the subject, though containing amusing titles like "Letters in praise of tight-lacing". 46 Lady Clarendon, wife of the Foreign Secretary, "noted the voluminousness of the Imperial skirts, which reminded her of old-time paniers: this must have been the first appearance in England of the crinoline", Leaves From a Journal: A Record of the Visit of the Emperor and Empress of the French to the Queen and of the Visit of the Queen and H. R. H. the Prince Consort to the Emperor of the French. 1855, ed. by Raymond Mortimer (Deutsch, 1961), hereafter Leaves From a Journal, pp. 16-17. 47 punch, 22 December 1860, p. 247. 48 Dated 1868, and contains no other information. 49 Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, (January 1867), p. 34. When she began to wear hats in the 1850s, an unhappy EBB complained: "Really it diminishes my happiness in life, and I owe an immense grudge to the Empress Eugenie for taunting me so, just because she likes to show her own beautiful face! " Huxley, p. 217.

124

myself went so far the other day as to buy two whale bone hoops, but really I have not courage to let Wilson sew them in. 50

During its reign, crinoline went through stylistic changes -mainly great increases in

proportions.

When lovely woman, hooped in folly, Grows more expansive every day,

And makes her husband melancholy To think what bills he'll have to pay. 51

The mockery of the popular press was led by Punch which spend the years 1856-1862

ridiculing the fashion. The satire featured articles like "Crinolineomania", a

pathological study by Dr Punch; "The Anti-Crinoline Association (Limited)", formed by

husbands in order to provide the Empress with the bills for their wives' excesses;

"Crinoline For Criminals", describing its potential as a place of concealment in

shoplifting; "The Wrongs of Crinoline", a plea for understanding from Lady Crinoline;

and short snippets of general complaint 52 The "banquiers" and "croupiers" of Baden-

Baden rail about blocked entrances to the gambling rooms and lack of space around the

tables; the Royal Academy is short of space due to the increase in proportions of life-

size portraits; "with or without crinoline" appears on invitation cards since the

complaints by young ladies about the reduction in the number of invitations due to lack

of room; young men of fashionable society form the "Anti-dancing League" in protest at

the obvious difficulties involved; the Prefect of Paris has plates put up asking men and

women to walk on different sides of the streets to reduce traffic; women will now never

be allowed to "sit in parliament" 53 In short, the general tone was one of exasperated

admonition: "now why do you wear Crinoline? ... Because the Empress of the French

does?... And pray, what have you to do with what the E. 0. T. F. does? What's Eugenie

to you, or you to Eugenie? " The conclusion was that crinoline is synonymous with

50 4 March 1857, Huxley, p. 270. 51 Punch, 21 February 1857. 52 Respectively, 27 December 1856, p. 253; 28 February 1857, p. 87; 21 January 1860, p. 32; 20 September 1856, p. 117. 53 Respectively, 27 September 1856, p. 123; 2 May 1857, p. 177; 7 February 1857, p. 57; 14 February 1857, p. 62; 4 October 1856, p. 132; 7 March 1857, p. 99.

125

folly: "When lovely Woman stoops to Crinoline, she ceases to be Woman, and becomes

a monster. "54

Crinoline's decline can be traced in the pages of one of the leading publications for

women, the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine (EDM). The decline was gradual but not

uniform. In September 1860 the magazine announced that the "iron reign of Crinoline,

as some of our gentleman wags have called it, is undoubtedly, but gradually coming to

an end". But the following month it conceded that "Crinoline still continues in favour.

The circumference of the dresses does not appear to be diminishing. "55 In 1862 Punch

excitedly wrote of a "Rumoured Change of Fashion":

A Report has been current for some days, in well-informed circles, that the preposterous framework of hoops and cages, which has so long been in use to extend female dress to extravagant dimensions under the name of Crinoline, is going out of fashion in Paris. We sincerely trust this rumour is true. English society takes its tone from Parisian; and good taste has too long been outraged by the social nuisance, not to say the social evil, of Crinoline.

The rumour was not quite accurate. The end took some years yet, and Punch continued

its campaign against the style well into the middle of the decade. 56 In 1866 the EDM

told its readers that "in reply to many inquiries, we again repeat that crinolines are not

abandoned as yet, and seem likely to be worn through the winter". By 1867, however,

the magazine could announce that "crinolines are nominally quite out of fashion". 57

The gradual decline also marked a gradual change (beginning around 1863) in the

shape of the skirt into one with a raised back, a straight front, and a small

circumference. By the middle of 1868 the fashion was for dresses to be worn with a

bustle and without crinoline. 58

54 Punch, 31 October 1857, p. 183. 55 September 1860, p. 238. October 1860, p. 285. 56 1 February 1862, p. 47. See, for example, 1 October 1864, p. 140: "The Safest Way of Taking a Lady Down to Dinner". But there was renewed hope expressed in "Rhymes to Decreasing Crinoline", 25 March 1865, p. 124. 57 January 1866, p. 30. January 1867, p. 34. 58 Cecil W. Cunnington,, English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century (Faber, 1937), hereafter Cunnington, p. 230. A very useful book as it covers the fashions of the century year by year with appropriate illustrations. For samples of the new styles see also ILN, 1 January 1870, p. 13.

126

ý, 4' ý, ýý

Punch, January 1857.

FAST YOUNG LADIES.

I una'a a stunning get of us. Fast young Indies;

Tiere 'a a fleshy set of us, Fast young ladies ;

Nowise shy or timorous, Up to all that n: cu discuss, Never mied how scandalous.

Fast young ladies.

Wide-awakes our heads adorn, Fast young ladies ;

Feathers in our hals are Born, Fast young holies;

Skirts hitched up on spreading frame, Petticoats as bright as Hanle, Deud' high-heeled hoots, proclaim 1 ast young ladles.

Ridiuß habits are the go, last young ladies,

When we prance in Butten How, Fast young ladies;

Where we're never at a loss On the theme of "that 'ere 'nsa, " Which, am yet, we du not cross,

Fast young ladies.

There we scan, as hold as brass, Fast young ladies.

Other parties as they pass, Fast young ladies

Parties wl: mu our pareida slow, Tell us we ought not to know ; Shouldn't we, incleedy Why so, Fast young ladies P

On the Turf we show mir fill!, -, Fast young ladies ; Know the odds of every race, Fast young ladies; Talky as sharp as any knife, Betting slang-we read Be 's Life That's the ticket for a wife,

Fast young ladies !

We are not to be hooked in, least young ladies;

I require young with tin, Fast young ladies.

Love is humbug- eaah tho Chief Article in my belief: All poor matches oome to grief, '

Fast young ladies.

Not to marry ie wy plan, Fast young ladies,

Any but a wealthy maul, Fast young ladies.

Bother that romanen and stuff She who likes it is a muff We are better up to snug.

Fast young ladies.

Give me but my quiet weed. Feet young ladies,

Bitter ale and ample feed, Fast young ladies ; Pay my hills, porlc"muuoaia sture,

Wardrulm stuck-l ask nu more. Sentiment we vole is bore,

Fast young ludics.

Pinch, August 1860.

BRIGHTON JEWELS.

The pork pie hat appeared some years later than the crinoline, around 1860, and

reached the height of its popularity in 1862, when it is mentioned in the EDM:

The pretty turn-down hats are prettier than ever, and many dainty

specimens of the "pork-pie, " or turned-up hat, have been produced. The latter forms a charming style of coiffure, if worn at suitable times,

UNDER THE MISTLETOE. A': ýl'sn's 7III! 1K1 (ýP1Y Uf. 1 ý: ' A I. -t Tw r i': 1 M V'; o Y.

Punch, October 1860.

127

and in suitable places, but nothing can be in worse taste than to wear one of these conspicuous hats in a crowded street 59

Suitable places were strictly outdoors, and mainly in the country and by the sea.

Usually decorated with a knot of small feathers and a net in the back to hold the hair, it

was stylishly worn with a forward slant. Hats - as opposed to other headdress like

bonnets and caps-had a certain reputation among the more respectable classes. They

were not allowed in church and the common wisdom was that servants with hats is a

recipe for promiscuity, as they (hats) are magnets for the attentions of young men. 60

The pork pie hat did not cause such a stir as did the crinoline, but for the early 1860s

the two together designated a specific image. Their popularity gained the young

women who wore them a certain reputation, and soon Punch was writing about the

"fast young ladies" with feathers in their hats and skirts hitched up on spreading

frames. 61 The fashion coincided with the rise and rapid popularity of sea-side

excursions, where women in crinoline and pork pie were a common sight-so was the

sight of them being blown into the water by strong winds. The 1860s also marked the

rise in the popularity of Thomas Cook's continental tours resulting in ever greater

numbers of women holidaying across the channel. Merimee was passing through

Boulogne in September 1865: "I saw many fisherwomen prettily dressed; but what Englishwoman, and what pork pie hats! " He points out another of the dangers of

wearing crinoline at the sea-side. "These ladies should be warned that when lining the

quay they make a great exhibition of their garters to steamer passengers coming in

when the tide is low"62

In a few years into the decade the conservative attitude to hats had changed enough

for the EDM to be able to give it a qualified recommendation: "the hat, now a most

important article of a lady's toilet, claims our attention ... For country and sea-side wear

the hat is indispensable for young ladies, both married and single. " Even so, the older

59 June 1862, p. 92. 60 Cunnington, p. 238. Georgine de Courtais, Women's Headdress and Hairstyles in England From AD 600 to the Present Day (Batsford, 1973), hereafter De Courtais, p. 130. 61 "Fast Young Ladies", 16 August 1860, p. 67. The precursors to the Edwardian seaside girls. In Ulysses Joyce alludes to the song, "Seaside Girls" (1899): "Down at Margate looking very charming you are sure to meet, / Those girls, those girls, those lovely seaside girls", quoted in Zack Bowen, Musical Allusions in the Works of James Joyce (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1974), pp. 85-86,89-90. 62 Prosper M6rimde, Letters to an Incognita, ed. by Richard H. Stoddard (New York: Scribner, 1874), hereafter Incognita, pp. 117-18.

128

generation still required assurance. The magazine carefully stressed that the

"convenience and comfort of this style of head-gear is now so universally

acknowledged, that a middle-aged lady is permitted to don a hat without being

considered to look ridiculous, or as wishing to make herself appear younger than she

really is" 63

Browning appears to have been quite aware of fashion and the styles of the day,

and was not beyond indulging in some sartorial humour. Before the advent of crinoline

Amelia Bloomer attempted in 1851 to introduce her new fashion-loose trousers

gathered at the ankle, covered by a skirt over the knees, and a long jacket covering all-

to the country. The idea of a woman wearing trousers was not well received and the

style was much ridiculed in the press. In a letter to William Allingham in 1851, an

amused Browning writes, "now you know that, as the day's paper testifies, whenever

people front the world in London streets in 'full Bloomer costume; they have to 'retreat

to a cab' in quick time. "64 Browning's main stylistic efforts were to keep the often

reluctant EBB up to date and fashionable. In 1847 she tells her sister about her caps

which Wilson makes "very prettily of net in the old fashion" and how Robert likes them

so much that "I scarcely wear anything else, and have them in various colours". 65 But

by 1851 Browning has had a change of taste. EBB tells her sister of a visit to the

Tennyson in Paris and how horrified she was that

Robert made me go to that momentous tea-drinking, without anything on my head; -I mean, with only my hair. He had set himself, for ever so long, against my poor little caps; and after a revolutionary scene at Florence (besides various Erneutes) I promised to do as he liked when I got to Paris. So he claimed the promise accordingly 66

It seems EBB's caps were out of date - she, herself, refers to them as old fashioned - and Browning did not wish for her to appear old or matronly. He may have suffered them

in provincial Florence, but not in Paris. The fashion of the time was that, generally

speaking, "the grander the occasion the less covering was worn on the head", which

63 September 1862, pp. 236-37. 64 23 September 1851, Letters to Allingham, p. 95. 6' 9 July 1847, Huxley, p. 37. 66 21 July 1851, Huxley, p. 137.

129

would explain the Tennyson visit 67 By 1855 EBB is complaining from Florence to her

sister about hats (which had a different reputation outside of Britain): "I and Punch

resisted this unnatural and most uncomfortable fashion as long as we could; and now

that tyrant Robert insists on my 'wearing hats like other people. " 68 Browning was

consistent in following the fashions, and three years later EBB is still complaining: "Mrs

Jameson lectures me for my obedience to fashions, but she rather should lecture

Robert. "69

The Prince's companion is probably a fallen "fast young lady" of the early 1860s, a

time when Louis Napoleon was at his height and she at her prime. Now they have both

"seen better days" [1]. He is in exile and she is wearing, in the city, the sea-side fashions of some years back-most likely, the only presentable outfit she possesses or

can afford. But the Prince, one imagines, chooses her not only for being a kindred spirit,

for being unfashionable -a state one in exile would identify with-but also for the

nostalgic associations her attire would have for Louis Napoleon. Whom better to relive

the past with for one evening?

"Sphynx" [8]

If the Empress was associated with crinoline, the Emperor was sphinx because to

his contemporaries he was an enigma. The ILN reminded its readers in 1871: "fifteen

years ago France had an Emperor, whose inscrutable wisdom was popularly

represented to be so prodigious that he was dubbed the Sphinx. " George Sand once

attempted to give an impression of the complexity of his character by telling the story

that Louis Napoleon ordered his imperial mantle while still president. "Sempstresses

were engaged in embroidering the golden bees at the time when he declared to those

who were urging him forward, 'No, I will not betray the Republic'; and the marvelous feature of the transaction is, that he said it in good faith. " A friend could write: "I knew

Louis-Napoleon, if not intimately, at least very well, for nearly a quarter of a century,

and I felt myself as little competent to give an opinion of him on the last as on the first

day of our acquaintance. " It is not clear exactly when the name stuck, but two sphinxes

of white marble were brought back, as trophies from Crimea, and placed at the entrance

67 De Courtais, p. 116. " 27 April 1855, Huxley, p. 217. 69 9 July 1858, Huxley, p. 295.

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of the private gardens of the Tuileries. Lady Blessington's biographer remembers him

during a parade:

This man-mystery, the depths of whose duplicity no Oedipus has yet sounded, is a problem even to those who surround him. I watched his pale, corpse-like, imperturbable features, not many months since, for a period of three hours. I saw eighty thousand men in arms pass before him, and I never observed a change in his countenance, or an expression in his look which would enable the bystander to say whether he was pleased or otherwise at the stirring scene that was passing before him.

Or, as Victor Hugo uncharitably put it, "to feign death, that is his art". The same

impassivity and control applied in private surroundings as well. The Goncourt brothers

record a dinner with the Emperor's cousin, Princess Mathilde, who had almost married

Louis Napoleon during the exile years and was, after the Empress, the most powerful

woman of the Empire:

The princess arrived at five o' clock from Compiegne... She spoke of the Emperor. "What do you expect? the man is neither lively nor impressionable... Nothing troubles him. The other day he got squirted by a siphon of water into his neck; he merely moved his glass to the other side, without a word. This is a man who never loses his temper; and his angriest word is: 'It's absurd. ' He never says anything more than that... But I, if I had married him, I should have broken his head to see what was inside it "7°

Disraeli, in Endymion, imagines him as a child baffling even his mother: "I ought to tell

you his character. I cannot. You may say he may have none. I do not know. He has

abilities, for he acquires knowledge with facility, and knows a great deal for a boy. But

he never gives an opinion" [I, 41].

His self-sufficiency and quiet mannerism gave him, when a young man, a

reputation for being dull and a dreamer. He was known "to frequent the shop of a fashionable tailor in Regent street, and gaze out at the window for an hour or two at a time, without once breaking silence". A friend supplies a nicer description: "Londons

fine ladies and gentlemen termed him dull and uninteresting, little recognising the tact

and strength of will which was one day to conduct him to that imperial throne. Yet

131

notwithstanding his apparent indifference, he was always ready to discuss in an

agreeable manner those social questions which interested him. "71

Inscrutable as a man, unpredictable in his diplomacy, Louis Napoleon was an able

politician who exasperated Europe by always keeping it guessing as to his next move.

Infuriatingly, everyone had to wait to see what the Emperor would do before they could

make their own decisions. Writing in 1863 Walter Bagehot describes the situation from

a financial point of view:

The revolutions of 1848, the accession of a Bonaparte dynasty to absolute power in France, the Crimean and Italian wars, have

shattered the states system established in 1815, but have found no coherent substitute. They have broken up an apathetic but cheap system; they have created an active and uneasy state, which must always be expensive because it will never be at rest. The perpetual question: "What will the French Emperor next do? " and the variety of answers made to it, cost millions to every great State in Europe 72

As often as not the allusion to sphinx would precede a statement of puzzlement. After

the armistice with Austria the correspondent of The Times wrote, "it is notoriously very

difficult to get at the meaning of Louis Napoleon. He is the great modem Sphynx, and

his very existence depends upon his not being found out. But, of all the riddles he has

proposed to Europe, none is more puzzling and intricate than this treaty of Villa

Franca. "73 More complications appeared with the Treaty of Zurich (November 1859)

which confirmed the agreements of Villafranca. An exasperated Foreign Secretary,

Lord Russell, explained to the Commons: "That treaty stipulated one thing, while the

French Emperor declared another thing, which though not totally inconsistent with the

treaty, was practically adverse to it. "74 Even his crowning of the edifice in 1869 was

viewed with suspicion:

70 ILN, 13 May 1871, p. 479. Jerrold, III, p. 261. Vandam, II, p. 1. Charles A. Cole, The Imperial Paris Guide (Hotten, 1867), p. 109. Madden, I, p. 470. Napoleon the Little, p. 30.16 December 1863, Goncourt journals, I, p. 1364. 71 Edward Spender, "Napoleon III. ", LQR, 40 (1873), hereafter Spender, Napoleon III, 130-61 (p. 137). Mary Cotton, Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Combermere, 2 vols (Hurst and Blackett, 1866), II, p. 268. 72 From his survey, "The Finance of Great Britain. Retrospect and Prospect", Economist, Supplement of 11 April 1863, in The Collected Works of Walter Bagehot, ed. by N. St. John-Stevas, 15 vols (The Economist, 1986), XIII, p. 584, n. 3. 73 15 July 1859, p. 9. 74 5 February 1861, Hansard, 161 (1861), p. 83.

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'Neath these same orbs that still revolve Above my granite brows sedate,

I forged the riddles, which to solve Was fame, wherein to fail was fate.

But darker riddle never yet I framed for Oedipus the wise,

Than those that to the world I set, Touching these things before my eyes. 75

On the other hand, he could be extremely charming, and possessed the charisma

which attracts followers. George Sand, who as a staunch republican abhorred Louis

Napoleons views, admitted that he "is endowed with the gift of making himself

loved-it is impossible not to love him". 76 On their initial meeting in 1839, Greville had

described him as a "short, thickish, vulgar-looking man without the slightest

resemblance to his Imperial uncle, or any intelligence in his countenance". By 1850 he

had changed his opinion: "he is, indeed, himself by far the best of his family, being

well-meaning and a gentleman. "77 Many who completely disagreed with his politics

still tried to praise or justify the man. Landor believed him to be the greatest ruler alive;

he liked the man while hating his actions. 78 He wrote in the Examiner in 1853,

"whatever ... I may have written about Napoleon the Third, never have I doubted his

sagacity, his courage, his perseverance. " Landor had written, in reference to the

suppression of the Roman Republic, "I hope my old friend Louis Napoleon will meet

with the deserts of his villainy. " And after the coup d'etat: "Louis Napoleon has

75 "Latest-From the Sphinx", stanzas 4-5, Punch, 27 November 1869, p. 210. 76 prisoner of Ham, p. 378. 77 Charles C. F. Greville, The Grevnlle Memoirs, ed. by Henry Reeve, 8 vols (Longman, Green, 1888), hereafter Greville, IV, p. 173 and VI, p. 337. 78 Letter to Lady Blessington, 9 January 1849, Madden, II, p. 349. The fiercely republican Landor was convinced that Louis Napoleon would become Emperor, but that did not affect his feelings towards him. He wrote that he is "a truly patriotic ... and a singularly wise man... I feel a great interest, a great anxiety, for the welfare of Louis Napoleon. I told him, if ever he were again in a prison, I would visit him there; but never, if he were upon a throne... He is the only living man who would adorn one. " Landor, whose passions often fluctuated to extremes, praised Louis Napoleon as president. As Emperor, Landor's invective, much to Louis Napoleon's astonishment, knew no bounds. Landor regretted not having killed him when he had the opportunity in England and proposed a pension for the wife of the Emperor's assassin. With the Crimean war and the English alliance, however, Landor transposed his hatred to the Tsar, and Louis Napoleon, once again, became the wisest and best ruler in Europe (but Landor still did offer a pension to Orsini's widow). See "Life and Opinions of Walter Savage Landor", LQR, 24 (1865), 171-206 (p. 173, pp. 194-96).

133

accomplished my prophecy; he will be a worse scourge to the world than his uncle, for

he has double his wisdom.. . But Louis' cunning is impenetrable. The other thief was

fond of showing his picking lock keys, and how cleverly he entered his neighbours'

houses. "79 But even then, his view was that "necessity [my emphasis]will compel him to

assume the Imperial Power" -the same qualification resorted to by Thackeray shortly

after the coup d'etat

knowing something personally of the man who is committing these awful errors as I take 'em I still think it's an honest man pursuing an impossible ruinous illogical system-not a selfish monster but a despot on principle a wrong principle, which entails the use of the worst acts, the worst agents & the most monstrous consequences of ills 80

Louis Napoleon certainly used his charm on people he thought important for his

advancement

When Louis Napoleon, on his arrival in France in the memorable year 1848, determined to consult public men, for the purpose of making himself acquainted with the circumstances of a country he felt himself destined to govern, one of the first whom he invited to his table at the H6tel de Rhin, was M. Veron, proprietor of the Constitutionnel newspaper. The susceptible politician returned home

a devoted Bonapartist 81

Queen Victoria was another who fell under his spell. Three days after her return

from France in 1855, she wrote to her mentor and confidant, Baron Stockmar, about

"this man-whom certainly we were not over well-disposed to":

I never enjoyed myself more, or was more delighted or more interested, and I can think and talk of nothing else... For the Emperor personally I have conceived a real affection and friendship ... I cannot say how pleasant and easy it is to live with him or how attached one becomes to him. I know no one who put me more at my ease, or in

79 Letters of Walter Savage Landor, ed. by Stephen Wheeler (Duckworth, 1899), 17 December 1853 (to the Examiner), p. 353; 27 June 1849 (to Mrs Graves-Sawle), p. 174; 21 January 1852 (to Mrs Graves-Sawle), p. 180. 80 Landor to Lady Blessington, 9 January 1849, Madden, II, p. 416. Thackeray to Mrs Carmichael- Smyth, 26 February 1852, The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepeace Thackeray, ed. by Gordon N. Ray, 4 vole (Oxford University Press, 1945), hereafter Ray, III, p. 16. 81 A. V. Kirwan, "Decline of French Romantic Literature", Fraser's Magazine, 53 (1856), 711-21 (p. 711).

134

whom involuntarily I should be more inclined to confide... In short, without attempting to do anything particular to make one like him... he has the power of attaching those to him who come near him and know him, which is quite incredible. 82

Rik

Punch, August 1858.

A mixture of charm and inscrutability, unself-consciously regal, these qualities

merely enhanced the enigma. To the popular imagination, he remained sphinx. "All

the more remarkable is... the aspect he wears through all the changes of his fortune:

colder and denser at every step, still with some distant and unattained end brooding

under his heavy eyelids - impassive the moment before his arm is raised, impassive the

moment after. " 83

82 The Letters of Queen Victoria, ed. by Arthur Benson and Viscount Esher, 3 vols (John Murray, 1907), III, pp. 176-78. See also Leaves From a Journal: Clarendon had told Greville that he thought the Emperor had made a very conscious effort to win over the Queen, to the extent of learning all he could about her tastes and episodes from her childhood (p. 20); but there is no doubt that the Queen had completely taken to the Emperor. "I felt-I do not know how to express it-safe with him. His society is particularly agreeable and pleasant; there is something fascinating,

melancholy, and engaging, which draws you to him in spite of any pr6vention you may have

against him. He certainly has a most extraordinary power of attaching people to him! " (p. 152). 83 Greenwood, p. 143.

II1,: 1IU'. \t'II fill \\. )I; 'Illh: IuII)I II": Ol 'fI111 I'1; 1".. I": \ I'. "I :f . s, (. ý;; '..:, l: I ... . ,.. ,ß : 1: i.. 1- I;.. .ý..,.. .. ". ,..

135

"Leicester Square" [81

The Prince in exile has ended up in Leicester Square. There is a good reason for

this. A biographer of Louis Napoleon wrote in 1871:

Foreigners driven to our shores.. . never can quite get to like the country. Our mode of life is a deal too slow for them; our amusements are much too sober; our regulations much too strict... A Frenchman, therefore, especially, is seldom more than a week in London before he begins to feel "triste". Every Sunday he is certain to have a fit of the Blues. He is a miserable spectacle on that day, met with anywhere; but more particularly wretched in his favourite localities, the Haymarket and Leicester Square, where he looks about as lively as an owl on a ruin.

Punch informed its readers that these foreigners in "their anatomical construction they

undoubtedly resemble mankind; they are also endowed with the faculty of

speech ... They come over here in large numbers from other countries, chiefly from

France; and in London abound in Leicester Square. "

Leicester Square was associated with things French. Praised by Voltaire, it was the

site of the French Embassy (in the seventeenth century), the French Hotel, the Alhambra

Theatre, and many French cafes and restaurants. (The "Notre Dame de France" church,

built in the 1860s, is still functioning at Leicester Place. ) The area was also notorious as

a haunt for political exiles. French refugees from the first revolution,

republican/socialists after 1848 and the 1851 coup d'etat, communists of the 1871 Paris

Commune, they all ended up in London. 86 Punch could not help itself:

Probably no better representation of the type of man, half knave and half enthusiast, who has been washed upon our shores by the successive storms of foreign revolution, has ever been produced. We

can see him now by walking into any of the ca fps surrounding Leicester Square. There he sits, smoking his inevitable cigar, reading a democratic foreign paper, ruminating over his wrongs, dreaming of

84 James M. Haswell, The Story of the Life of Napoleon III (Hotten, 1871), hereafter Haswell, p. 39. 85 7 August 1841, p. 42. 86 John Hollingshead, The Story of Leicester Square (Simpkin, Marshall, 1892), hereafter Hollingshead, pp. 11-12, pp. 70-76. Henry B. Wheatley, London Past and Present, 3 vols (John Murray, 1891), hereafter Wheatley, II, pp. 384-85.

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a good time coming, owing nothing, ready and anxious for any emergency. 87

During his exile from the France of Louis Philippe, Louis Napoleon had visited

England four times during the 1830s and was based in London after his escape from

prison in 1846. He was reputed to have engaged in some "secret conferences with one

or two individuals whose appearances some of his English friends thought betrayed a

strong intimacy of Leicester-square" 88 Once he became the ruler of France the words,

"Louis Napoleon, whom I used to know in Leicester Square days", found much usage. 89

Going to Leicester Square was a euphemism for exile:

The time will come when discontent Will overthrow your government; Of subjects when your ragged rout Will rise, rebel, and kick you out.

Then, if your rags old England lacks, You'll come and bring them on your backs; Yourselves and rags you'll hither bear, And bundle all to Leicester Square. 90

When in 1861 it was rumoured that the French army was about to leave Rome, Punch

fancied the Emperor's advice to Pius IX (Pio Nono):

Holy Father, when I'm gone, Fly to England quick, alone: Hire a cosy lodging there, A three-pair back in Leicester Square: There at thine ease thy'bacca blow, And die in peace, Pio Nono! `n

87 Frank T. Marzials, "Contributions to Punch, and other Works. By John Leech", LQR, 24 (1865), 105-26 (p. 114). 88 The Life and Correspondence of Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, ed. by Thomas H. Duncombe, 2 vols (Hurst and Blacked, 1868), hereafter Duncombe, II, p. 5. Duncombe was a radical MP and an unprejudiced defender of the unfortunate, like Polignac, the Chartists, Mazzini, Louis Napoleon, Kossuth, and the Bandiera brothers whom EBB mentions in Casa Guidi Windows [1,882]. See also Spender, Napoleon III, p. 138. 89 This one is from the Punch "correspondent" reporting on the coup d'etat, 3 December 1851, p. 264. `O Last two stanzas of "Refugees & Rags", Punch, 7 April 1860, p. 140. The pun on rags alludes to the issue of paper duty in Gladstone's 1860 budget (Hansard, 156 (1860), p. 2225).

137

The ILN of January 1872, with a cover engraving depicting "A Communist Club-Room

Near Leicester-Square", reported that the Commune "was scarcely dissolved in Paris

before its members and supporters were attempting again to form themselves into a body, in their new place of refuge... In consequence, Leicester-square and Soho became

the Quartier General of the defeated communists. -' 92

Louis Napoleon was already in exile and settled in Chislehurst by March 1871, nine

months before Browning's poem was published. The Prince may have been feeling

nostalgic, but for him to spend time in Leicester Square, among old and new enemies,

would be suicidal- (an early hint as to the real setting of the poem). There was a minor

scandal in 1858 when, in an Imperial pamphlet, Britain was accused of strong anti- French sympathies and of harbouring dangerous radicals. It specifically referred to the

night of 9 February, at a gathering of the French club which met at Wylde Reading

Rooms, Leicester Square, during which Simon Bernard, an accomplice of Orsini (who

had tried to assassinate the Emperor the previous month), had called for the death of the Emperor and every official in the government, and was enthusiastically applauded. Irritated by the French government's objections, Punch wondered why the Emperor

does not "attack the Pope? Or go against Bomba? -instead of besieging Leicester

Square.! 93 There is certainly an element of rueful bravura involved in the Prince's

scenario: the adventurer, the trickster, imagines himself specifically in Leicester Square

to show that "the once redoubted Sphynx" [15], now old, has lost none of its courage. But to the contemporary readers of the poem, Leicester Square, with its long association

with the Emperor and political exiles, is the most fitting place to find the Prince. The

feeling of poetic justice would not have been lost on the Emperor's detractors.

Within the square, the Prince finds another kindred spirit in "the grim guardian of this square" [196], "the plaster-monarch on his steed" [308]:

The equestrian statue of George I... stood in the centre of the square... When the building for "Wyld's Great Globe" was erected (1851) in the enclosure... the statue was taken down and buried, but

91 "Napoleon to Nono", 14 September 1861, p. 106. Five years later Punch told the Pope that if he "To England be pleased to repair", he would find a fitting mansion in "The Alhambra, to wit, Leicester Square" ("Invitation to Papa", 24 November 1866, p. 215). 92 6 January 1872, p. 2. 93 L'Empereur Napoleon III et 1'Angleterre (Paris: Didot Freres, 1858) p. 23. Punch, 20 February 1858, p. 77.

138

on the removal of that structure in October, 1862 it was again set up, minus a leg, and otherwise disfigured... The enclosure remained a discredit to the neighbourhood till 1873-1874, when... Mr. Albert Grant converted the enclosed space into a Public Recreation Ground,

of its kind the most ornamental then in London. 94

rt 1 I' f

t1

Punch, September 1866.

Punch kept track of the statue, published reports of its "progress" and its pleas for

assistance under the heading, "Telegrams from Leicester Square". The readers were

assured that "the Mutilated Statue is as well as can be expected. In consequence of the

inclemency of the weather at night, another coat of paint

has been ordered for him. " And the following month: "the Statue has sent a petition to

the Government to take the horse away and accommodate him with a perambulator. "

Punch even wrote it a song (should be sung with a German accent as both Louis

Napoleon and George I had one):

"I'm monarch of all I survey, " My right leg is minus a foot,

My left has been taken away, And another they haven't yet put.

"Oh, Solitude, where are thy charms? " I've cried till I'm black in the face;

94 yiteately, II, p. 385.

HINTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LEIDESTER SQUARE. U' ME ARTTi} WnO WWITZWPAIIIID ME I? 4TUL

139

Which black wori t come off with the storms Of Rain in this horrible place. 95

Like the prostitute, like the Prince, the statue has seen better days; it is likely that "grim"

refers as much to the statue's feelings as to its appearance.

After more than a quarter of a century of humiliations: after serving as a standing butt for Punch and his imitators: after being painted in divers unheraldic colours, and even spotted like the pard, black on a white ground, after appearing one morning with a paper fool's-cap

over his leaden laurels, and his s truncheon replaced by a Turks's-head besom: after losing ý, '°" a =- his limbs one by one, and at last his head, 1= till he lay a mere t, ý. r -_. ""ý"<`ý. ý'' r kau; . -, ý-,, battered trunk under the belly of his steed, propped up by a broomstick, and with a great hole yawning in its back, where once the royal rider was riveted to his saddle, the last stage of degradation was reached. 96

The "saviour" has been treated the same as the "guardian". With pathos, ridicule,

bravura, and mockery intermingled, Leicester Square has become a purgatory for the

exiles, the pitiful, the subversives, the down and outs, where one goes to plead one's

case. The writer Joseph Hatton recalled that a short time before the Emperor's death he

saw him "driving down Regent Street in a Hansom cab. It seemed at the moment easier

to realize the truth of 'Monte Christo' than to mark in that grey-bearded man the

emperor who had rehabilitated France, and lost her. He was on his way to an English

95 22 September 1866, p. 127.13 October 1866, p. 151.5 March 1865, p. 121. 96 Tom Taylor, Leicester Square: Its Curiosities and Its Worthies (Bickers, 1874), p. 279. See also "A Scene in Leicester Square", ILN, 2 February 1872, p. 133, which shows some street urchins throwing stones at the now riderless horse, with a couple of French refugees looking on.

140

village destined to be his last resting-place. "97 Perhaps, on his way, Sphinx stopped at

Leicester Square.

"Friend Home's stilts and tongs and medium-ware" [14]

In Prince Hohenstiel-Schwanagau Browning once again attacks his favourite object of

hatred, Daniel Dunglas Home -the inspiration for "Mr Sludge, 'The Medium'" and the

subject of many disagreements between the Brownings. In U. 13-14 of the poem the

Prince is concerned whether his career will be seen as dishonest and be classed with the

paraphernalia used in their trickery by mediums like "friend" Home. Browning's

intense dislike of Home was known to his friends and family and there are many

instances in his letters where he unequivocally expressed his sentiments or gleefully

recounted some misfortune which had befallen Home-98 With the publication of

"Sludge", however, Browning's sentiments became public. By this time Home was the

most famous medium in Europe. He had been received by several European royal families, married to a god-daughter of Tsar Nicholas, and featured often in Punch.

Though he was never caught cheating, Punch had marked him as a charlatan (as it did

all mediums) and ridiculed and attacked him at every opportunity. On hearing that

Home had converted to Roman Catholicism, it wrote: "Punch looks forward ere long to

find that Mr. Home has been induced by his Confessor to make a full confession of all

the artful dodges by which he gulled the dupes who were so weak as to put faith in his

spirit rapping tricks. " Or it reported that "from a Parliamentary return it appears that a

very large amount of duty was paid in 1863 and 1864 on Home-made Spirits. Hence it

appears that spirits, though Home-made, are not therefore necessarily all humbug. "99

Further publicity was aroused when the SM rushed to Home's defence. In a belligerent and insulting article entitled, "Mr. Robert Browning on Spiritualism" it

asked, "what can poor Sludge have done to the poet, for beyond the rancour which he

feels towards mankind in general, the poet must surely have some personal injury to

resent? " To be fair, the magazine admitted that it was not exactly obvious that Sludge

was based on Home, "but whether it be he or not, the press has at once taken it as

97 James Hatton, "The True Story of Punch", London Society, 28 (July 1875), pp. 49-56, (P-50). 98 See, for example, American Friends, pp. 102-03; Dearest Isa, p. 70, p. 135, pp. 182-83, pp. 272-73; New Letters, p. 199. 99 29 August 1863, p. 92.27 May 1965, p. 218.

141

meant for him, and has charged him upon the facts or fancies mentioned in the

poem". 100 The article ends with Home's account of the seance at the Ealing house of

the Rymers (and Browning's subsequent belligerent behaviour when Home had called

on him) and the implication that Browning's resentment was due to the fact that his

wife, and not he, was crowned with the spirit wreath. Home-quite possibly in

response to the attack in Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau-reprinted the article, with

additional comments, in 1872 in his second book of autobiography. 101 The lines from

the poem imply that the Prince is, at the least, familiar with Home, and that he believes

mediums to be tricksters. The question that arises is whether Browning, in collusion

with his protagonist, is being intrusive, or is the Prince justified in his allusion?

HOME; GREAT HOME 1. ' (Rrrp cff. &Aerki to aU "%ij%w ll IAoe'wfpl(r saran. )

z ova Lnmbap aad (atiacia thaaßh we mal roam they serer ºo ºrtfd there a an case like IIoors, With a lift from The ºp(rite he'll rim I. iha air ('Ibo+gb, u lights era lint out first. we can't see him there):

$oxa, ! foci, great Homo- 'aDm'a no ease like üoxt I

Of itself his Aecordion to pla7 will be ;..; (if you won't look too bard at the Worte hid . itbin ;) pirit"luadr, it bis biddin6, will come, tooth, and go (Bat you mmtn't peep ender the table, you know).

][ovsr IIox:, gnat iloxo-- Then s so too Lke Home

8 ing. bliad. willE7 np or ran'down at his word, ffa win has bona previoudy tlatd to the cord xs caa snake table, dance and bid chain eland

äa aid (Bat, of court., it part be is the hoes, of a ! rund], funs Horch, great Hoye 1

There rc no aua Gke HOUR I

The spirits to 1iw (howe'er other nay bap), Hare Droved tbemeetvee worth something more than a sop I And a new are of miracles yap le may mark. (It they'll only conceal to be hept In the dark.

` .. I3ox' 110)(16 great h oxs-

ýý -- " Them . so saw like Hove I " red, It apnw+.. r: w 6v.., tbeýý xr tau venue e's . w4 cbm ae

. gWM4 ca Ar some tlra ei Ir4r IlfflG -eN lash Ir &e I4f Y- 10 - ER, i 1d-Ws A., ADnnL

Punch, August 1860.

Louis Napoleon certainly knew Home. Both the Emperor and the Empress showed interest in seances and welcomed Home to the Tuileries when he went to Paris in 1857.

EBB gushed to her sister that "he has thrice had interviews with Louis Napoleon. The

news comes from Mrs. Macdonald here, whose daughter Madme Aguado (a Lady of the

Empress's) was present at the seances; so I conclude upon its truth. "102 The SM even

used the authority of "the mighty Emperor of the French" as proof of the authenticity of Home's powers:

100 SM, 5 (1864), 310-17 (p. 311). 101 Incidents In My Life, 2nd ser. (Tinsley Brothers, 1872), hereafter Home 2, pp. 95-108. 102 To Henrietta, 4 March 1857, Huxley, p. 271.

142

The Emperor, at all events, has given "material guarantees" that he has eyes and ears, not less than that he knows how to use them, and that he has a terrific force of will behind them ... He, at all events, is no sucking dove - no gentle shepherd with his lute - no country swain nor village Hampden. . . It does not strike us, either, that he would be a very likely person to play off a hoax upon. We should not easily be

tempted to try one on him. 103

At all events the Emperor, the magazine reports, was suitably impressed by, what

Home later described only as, "manifestations of an extraordinary nature" which

occurred at their first meeting: 104

After all the conditions of the Emperor had been satisfactorily complied with, and not a doubt could longer remain upon his innocent mind, he said "The Empress must see this"; and he went himself to bring her from the salon where all the court were assembled. Upon her coming with the Emperor, for two hours the three were seated together at the table, wonder-struck at the phenomena which were produced before them.

After this, Mr. Home became a constant guest, and in repeated sittings nearly the full range of spiritual manifestations were made familiar to both the Emperor and the Empress, as well as to most of the French court and aristocracy... The Emperor... makes no secret of what he saw and heard, but on the contrary, has made it a subject of frequent conversation; and amongst others of his acquaintance, both he and the Empress have informed our Queen and Prince Albert of all the wonders he has seen. 105

One of these wonders - it should come as no surprise - was the manifestation of the

spirit of Napoleon Bonaparte.

On one occasion four persons were sitting together at the Tuileries. The Emperor and the Empress, the Duchess de Montebello, and Mr.

103 The accounts of the Imperial seances are from "Spiritualism at the Tuileries", SM, 1 (1860),

pp. 140-41. This was one of three issues of the magazine Browning had asked Chapman to send them in Rome (New Letters, pp. 129-30). EBB wrote to Fanny Haworth, "Robert, whose heart

softens to the point of letting me have the 'Spiritual Magazine' from England", 26 June 1860, Kenyon, II, p. 395. 104 Daniel D. Home, Incidents In My Life (Longman, 1863), hereafter Home 1, p. 96. See also Madame Home, D. D. Home, His Life and Mission (Trübner, 1888), hereafter Madame Home, pp. 78- 80. 105 Queen Victoria wrote in August 1857: "The Emperor breakfasted with us, but not the Empress. He was much less lame. Afterwards, when alone with him, he talked to us of Mr. Home, the spiritualist, whom he is much taken up with, and he told us some certainly extraordinary things", quoted in Ivor Guest, Napoleon III in England (British Technical & General Press, 1952), hereafter Guest, p. 146.

143

Home. A pen and ink were on the table, and some paper. A spirit- hand was seen, and presently it took up the pen, and in their sight and presence dipped it in the ink, went to the paper, and wrote upon it the word "NAPOLEON, " in the autograph of the great Emperor. The Emperor asked if he might be allowed to kiss the hand, and it

went to his lips, and then to those of the Empress, and afterwards, on Mr. Home making a humble request, he was permitted to kiss its

warm and soft texture. The autograph is now among the valued contents of the Emperor's spiritual portfolio 106

Louis Napoleon had grown up in exile within a world saturated with Napoleonic

dreams and stories. As a young man he had come to acquire a sense of "superstition,

style it if you please" [1509] which manifested itself in his often expressed confidence in

his star and the certainty that it was his destiny to become the ruler of France 107 In

Endymion Disraeli has the Louis Napoleon character, Prince Florestan, say: "I am the

child of destiny ... That destiny will again place me on the throne of my fathers. That is

as certain as I am now speaking to you" [II, 53]. The Times described Louis Napoleon as

the "triumphant adventurer who alone among all his contemporaries had believed

beforehand in his own singular destiny". 108 The fulfilment of that destiny may have

contributed to his openness as to the existence of the supernatural. Such fatalism was

again evident when in 1855, after an assassination attempt, he said "as long as I have

not accomplished my mission, I am in no danger"? 09 The Earl of Malmesbury recalls a

private dinner with the Emperor in 1862:

We then got upon Home and spiritualism, which I saw he half believed in; and as he had been speaking of the many doubtful pictures in the Louvre, I suggested that it was desirable that Mr. Home should call up Titian's spirit and ask him whether he really painted the portrait of Francis I. which is in that gallery. Momy and Pietri took advantage of this to laugh at his belief, upon which he

106 Also quoted in Punch, 12 May 1860, p. 189, along with a cartoon of Louis Napoleon and the Emperor's hand. The SM responded in June 1860 with the article, "Punch's Cartoon of the Spirit Hand", 1 (1860), pp. 241-48, in which it humorously chastised Punch for being close-minded and gave it "another fact about the Emperor" (p. 243). Punch immediately "apologized" for the Cartoon and offered to subscribe to the Magazine-as penance (9 June 1860, p. 231). The

repartees continued. 107 Jerold, I, p. 237; II, pp. 88-90; Duncombe, p. 5. 108 31 December 1859, p. 6. 109 "Tant que je n'aurai pas accompli ma mission, je ne cours aucun danger", Oeuvres, III, pp. 419-20.

144

looked displeased, saying that if we could explain all we believed our religion would be a very easy task. 110

There is enough evidence to justify the allusion to Home within the dramatic

structure of the poem. The Prince's use of "friend" can be interpreted in different ways:

fondly, as for one who is mischievous but is tolerated in a good-natured fashion; or,

sarcastically, as for one who is only an acquaintance, or is no longer a friend. It could be

that Louis Napoleon was intrigued by Home's craft. Hawthorne wrote that Louis

Napoleon was considered a good amateur magician, and offers the view that his

interest in Home was professional. When Hawthorne was in Florence in 1858, during a

visit to Isa Blagden, Browning's friend, George Migniaty had told him: "Louis

Napoleon is literally one of the most skillful jugglers in the world, and that probably the

interest he has taken in Mr. Hume was caused partly by a wish to acquire his art. "111

But the evidence suggest that Louis Napoleon was genuinely intrigued by the spiritual

world, irrespective of what he truly believed, or came to believe, of Home. The case for

"friend" being used sarcastically can be made by pointing out that during the war of

1870 Home was reporting for an American newspaper from the German camp

(presumably having predicted and joined the winning side); he had entered Paris with

the German army and was present during the celebrations at Versailles to inaugurate

the German Empire. 112 The Prince might be feeling betrayed; Home is certainly not

mentioned in Louis Napoleon's official biography. The problem in this instance is one

of timing: at the time the Prince is speaking the war has not yet occurred. He can easily

pretend that he has lost a war and is in exile, but it is unlikely that he would conceive of

such detail as a betrayal by Home. But the sentiment is valid because after his initial

success in 1857 Home was not again welcome at the Tuileries for almost ten years. One

reason for this might have been that too much undesirable gossip was arising out of this

110 Malmesbury, II, p. 282. 111 Nathaniel Hawthorne, Passages from the French and Italian Note-Books of Nathaniel Hawthorne, 2

vols (Strahan, 1871), II, pp. 188-89. Home was known as Hume when he returned from America, but, rightly, insisted that Home was the correct spelling of his name (Thomas A. Trollope, What I

remember, 3 vols (Bentley, 1887), hereafter Trollope, p. 375; Home 1, p. 127). His father was the natural son of the tenth Earl of Home (DNB, XXVII, p. 225). Even Punch offered a clarification: "We are authorized to state, that Hume the spirit rapper is no connection of Hume, the historian

of England ... His real name is Home, and certain fashionable ladies are constantly "at Home" for

a little flying, or table-romping, or spirit-handing, or any other similar explosion of the anything but high spirits" (18 August 1860, p. 70). The reason for the confusion was due to the Scottish pronunciation of "Home". 112 "The King of Prussia and Mr. D. D. Home", SM, n. s. 5 (1870), p. 561. Home 2, p. 61.

145

association and was damaging the Emperor's reputation. It was also rumoured that

Home unwisely had predicted that the Prince Imperial would never reign. 113

Punch, March 1862.

The simple explanation for the allusion to Home is to see it as an example of the

Prince's sincerity. In this soliloquy of self-revealment he is being honest (and indulging

his taste for self-mockery) by confessing to having a trickster for a friend. And, as it

turns out at the end of his reverie, they are also kindred spirits. However, since

Browning's attitude towards Home was public knowledge, it would be a mistake to

pretend authorial impartiality. The answer, then, to the question of authorial intrusion

is both "yes" and "no". The allusion is justified within the framework of the poem

because of the association between Home and Louis Napoleon. It is also another airing

of Browning's opinion of Home. The charge of collusion, on the other hand, is

unequivocally valid: Browning and the Prince agree about the tricksters in the poem.

The Prince was justified in being concerned about posterity's opinion; the

association between Louis Napoleon and Home stuck. The Emperor's obituary in Punch

113 Guest, p. 146n. Home, in his autobiography (Home 1, pp. 103-06), indignantly quotes some of these rumours from newspapers; he claims he left France for personal reasons. See also Madame Home, p. 79.

THE GREAT FREE1\(; I1 . 1it. 1)1U1[. lfenmv. "I CAN MOVE THAT ELDERLY PARTY AND HER CRRAII( WHEINEVER AND WDEREVER I PLEASE!

alle ITMI. T. "Oil! I WIISIt III: WOUI. DI"

146

reminded the readers that it "is very well known that during the late French Empire, the

celebrated Medium, Mr. D. D. Home, enjoyed the patronage of Napoleon The Third,

and used to hold seances before his Imperial Majesty at the Tuileries". Quoting the

Emperor ("C'est l'äme de mon grand oncle qui m 'a toujours inspires et soutenu"), it

concludes: "perhaps the Nephew learned that he was inspired from Heaven by the Soul

of his Uncle from raps which occurred in the presence of Mr. Home. "114 The Prince's

bad luck has stayed with him well into the twentieth century. In one essay Sludge's

lines ("I know I acted wrongly: still, I've tried / What I could say in my excuse, - to

show / The devil's not all devil" [1481-83]) are attributed to the Prince. 115

"Thiers-and-Victor-Hugo exercise" [1223]

Adolphe Thiers and Victor Hugo were Louis Napoleon's most famous enemies.

Thiers, Daumier's favourite subject, was one of France's foremost politicians, and, by

reputation, one of its most eminent historians; Hugo was the country's most famous

man of letters. Elected into the republican Assembly at the same time as Louis

Napoleon and supportive of his bid for the presidency, both went into exile after the

114 "Napoleon in Excelsis", 10 May 1873, p. 192.

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coup d'6tat. Thiers returned the following year, continued his historical writings, and

in 1863 re-entered politics to become the leader of the opposition in the Assembly and

the most vocal enemy of the Second Empire. When the list of liberal concessions

granted by the Emperor was about to be read to the Assembly in 1869, the

correspondent of The Times wrote that there was an "instant hush ... everyone was silent;

and even M. Thiers... held his tongue" 116 Hugo, despite the general amnesty of 1859,

maintained his moral stance and remained in exile in the Channel Islands. For nineteen

years he continued his role as the self-proclaimed voice of liberty and republicanism,

attacking Louis Napoleon, in verse and prose, in language unparalleled in modern

times in the sustained quality of its satire and venom. At the fall of the Empire in 1870

Hugo returned to Paris to lend his support during the siege. Thiers, as one who had

been against the war and the only politician with enough prestige to deal with

Bismarck, was chosen to end hostilities and restore order and was named the first

president of the new Republic in August 1871.

The Prince's decision of having his history told by this amalgam is his little joke, but

very shrewd nonetheless. Hugo had been tirelessly leading the campaign against Louis

Napoleon from outside France, naming him a monster who, by suppressing the

Republic, had destroyed liberty. Thiers's views were opposite to those of Louis

Napoleon in almost every instance. He was opposed to free trade, preferred a restricted

suffrage, viewed the concept of national self-determination as detrimental to Europe's

balance of power, and was, therefore, strongly against Italian and German unification.

The joke is simply that the faults and deficiencies of the Historian's version of the

Prince's career will reflect on the Historian; it is, no doubt, most satisfying for the Prince

to ridicule the two men who for years have been a constant source of irritation to Louis

Napoleon. The Prince is being shrewd because, at the same time, any praise from one's

foremost enemies tends to be taken as valid; and the refutation of their arguments and

criticism will forestall others. On the specific level, an examination of their career and

their personal relationship with Louis Napoleon leaves them open to charges of

hypocrisy, unreliability, and a definite inability to be impartial and objective where Louis Napoleon is concerned.

115 Ashby B. Crowder, "Browning's Case for the Elder Man", Studies in Browning and His Circle, 2.2 (Fall 1974), 21-31 (p. 21). 11614 July, p. 5.

148

Thiers and Hugo are easy targets for the Prince because both were great admirers of

Napoleon Bonaparte (hypocrisy), closely associated with the July Monarchy (treachery),

had a mixed reputation as historians (unreliability), and were famous for their hatred of

Louis Napoleon (partiality) whom they had underestimated and lost to in the political

arena. Hugo had been a prominent practitioner of the romantic and idealized

Bonapartist cult which grew after Napoleon's death. He had celebrated the man in his

poems ("Le Retour de 1'Empereur", "A la Colonne", "Lui", among others) and, in his

capacity as a member of the French Academy and a peer of the realm, had

unsuccessfully pleaded with Louis Philippe to end the exile of the Bonaparte family 117

Thiers was the author of what was considered to be a standard history of the French

Revolution, Consulate, and Empire. Cassell's Illustrated History held the view in 1871

that "As a writer, he certainly exalted the first Napoleon beyond measure, and to him

was due in no small degree the revival of the Bonapartist fever which prepared the way

for the Empire of 1852"118 Thiers's English translator, understandably, was full of

praise. He considered the histories to be "a clear and sparkling narrative, where the

eventful tale is told, without tedious dissertations to distract and weary attention, or

obtrusive reflections to influence judgement and uphold some pertinacious

dogma.. . Not only in France, but throughout the continent it is regarded as the great

standard work upon the subject "119 Less biased and more astute readers were not as

enthusiastic. Merimee, with his usual perspicacity, observed in 1861: "I have read M.

Thiers's nineteenth volume with great pleasure. It strikes me as being written with

greater negligence than its predecessors, but full of curious matter. In spite of his desire

117 1840 was the height of the Napoleonic revival. Louis Philippe felt confident enough to use the memory of the Emperor to unite the country, and asked Britain for the ashes. Louis Philippe's son, Prince de Joinville, set sail to St Helena on 7 July 1840 and a state funeral was held in December. Browning's "I-Camp (French)" ["Incident of the French Camp"] was published in November 1842. EBB's contribution was "Napoleon's Return" ["Crowned and Buried"], Athenaeum, 4 July 1840, p. 532, [151-56]:

And if they asked for "rights, " he made reply, "Ye have my glory! " -and so, drawing round them His ample purple, glorified and bound them In an embrace that seemed identity. He ruled them like a tyrant-true! But none Were ruled like slaves! Each felt Napoleon!

The timing of Louis Napoleon's Boulogne attempt was no coincidence. In prison during the funeral, he wrote a pathetic letter "Aux manes de 1'Empereur", Oeuvres, I, pp. 434-37. 118 Cassell's Illustrated History of the War Between France and Germany, ed. by Edmund Oilier, 2 vols (Cassell, 1871-72), hereafter Cassell, I, p. 158. 119 Historical Works of M. Adolphe Thiers, trans. by Thomas W. Redhead and others, 4 vols (Fullarton, 1845-78), hereafter Thiers, Works, I, p. v.

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to speak ill of his hero, he is continually carried away by his involuntary love. "120 For

example, from the History of the French Consulate and Empire:

Napoleon, anxious to bring this resistance to a termination, had approached Ratisbon in the midst of a fire of tirailleurs, kept up by the Austrians from the walls and by the French from the edge of the fosse. While examining the locality with a glass, he received a blow from a ball on the instep, and said with the coolness of an old soldier, "I am struck".. . At the news that the Emperor was wounded the soldiers of the nearest corps spontaneously broke their ranks to offer him the most urgent testimony of affection. There was not one who did not suppose the existence of Napoleon was interwoven with his

own. 121

The work was criticized for factual inaccuracies, for putting too much emphasis on plot,

and for being a panegyric of Napoleon, "abounding in partial statements and partisan

feelings". Alexis de Tocqueville thought it lacked control and analysis of historical

forces and was defective in explaining the causes of Napoleon's emergence. EBB'S

opinion can be seen in her remark to Browning that "you may confute yourself as well

as M. Thiers". 122

Hugo's attempt at writing history was Napoleon the Little which dealt with Louis

Napoleon's character, career and the coup d'etat of 1851. The book gives the strong

impression that Hugo would have forgiven Louis Napoleon if only he had been an

impressive tyrant like his uncle. His real crime, Hugo keeps implying, is that he is

ridiculous. He intoxicates his soldiers "not with glory, like the first Napoleon, but with

wine; he will never be other than the pigmy tyrant of a great people". The unattractive

aspects of the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte can be forgiven because of the greatness of

his ambition and the glory of his achievements. Louis Napoleon's policy of sustainment

hardly balances the scale.

We question whether history, in its indignation, will not leave him unnoticed in the mud.. . what would you have the historian do with this fellow?

120 August 1861, Incognita, p. 99. 121 Tiers, Works, III, p. 304. 122 Edward Walford, Men of the Time: A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Living Characters (Including Women) (Routledge, 1862), p. 743. De Tocqueville, II, pp. 108-09. Correspondence, XIII, p. 42.

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The historian can only lead him to posterity by the ear.. . stripped of success, the pedestal removed, the dust fallen, the poor little skeleton laid bare and shivering.

Hugo confessed his lack of impartiality in writing the book, but insisted, nonetheless,

on its veracity:

Impartiality!, thou strange virtue, which Tacitus never possessed. Woe to him who can remain impartial before the bleeding wounds of liberty. In presence of the event of December, 1851, the author feels all human nature rise in his breast; he does not try to conceal it, and the reader cannot help perceiving it in reading his work. But with him his passion for truth equals his passion for right. An indignant man does not lie. 123

The extreme nature of the book, however, was self-defeating and many felt that Hugo's

pathological hatred of Louis Napoleon had brought out more of the novelist than the historian in him. One reviewer of Macmillan's noted Hugo's obsession: "the one

personage who is everywhere present to M. Victor Hugo in history is the tyrant. One

would say that a certain 'Napoleon the Little'... viewed from the Channel Islands, casts

a shadow so enormous as to spread over nearly the whole time and space. "124 Even

some of Louis Napoleon's detractors felt Hugo had exaggerated: "We turn with disgust

from such gory details of Louis Napoleon's 'handiwork' as given by M. Victor Hugo.

Believe it who may, that the soldiers were made drunk on purpose to butcher the

people ... unoffending shopkeepers being consigned to the fury of the troops. "125 Hugo,

in his next attack, the majestic poems in Les Chätiments (1853), quoted Louis Napoleon's

reaction to Napoleon the Little, which was to smile contemptuously and comment, "Ah!

Napoleon the Little by Hugo the Great! " Hugo used it as preface to the poem, "L'Homme a Ri", which begins, "Ah, tu finiras bien par hurler, miserable! "126

Part of the reason for Hugo's attitude has to do with politics, the rest relates to his

character. Browning was not alone at all in mentioning, what he called, Hugo's

123 Quotations from Napoleon the Little are from p. 215, p. 216, p. 81n. 124 John M. Ludlow, "Victor Hugo's 'Legend of the Ages"', MM, 1 (1859-60), hereafter Ludlow, 131-41 (p. 136). 125 Haswell, p. 265. 126 Chätiments, p. 63. Hugo quotes from Journaux Elyseens, aoßt 1852: "Lorsque Louis Napol6on le vit, il le prit, rexamina un instant avec le sourire du mepris sur les 16vres; puis, s'adressant aux personnes qui l'entouraient, il dit, en leur montrant le pamphlet: 'Voyez, messieurs, voici Napoleon-le-petit, par Victor Hugo-le-grand. -

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magniloquence and absurd humility. 127 Hugo was famous for a lack of humour which

was not at all compensated for by his vast ego. The "typical Hugonian

pronouncement", Sidney Colvin remembered, was uttered in a "full, soft, authoritative

and serenely unchallangeable tone". Alfred Domett's description was, "solemn

sententiousness ... delivered in the most pompous and oracular style" 128 In 1871 the

Athenaeum surprised its readers with the news of a "stupendous pun, crowned with

great success among our laughing philosophers, and which strange to say, is attributed

to Victor Hugo". Whenever someone observed that a certain word used in one of his

works was not in the French language he would grandly reply that it soon will be.

Many stories, some certainly apocryphal, were told of Hugo's sense of self. It was said

that after eighteen years in Britain, he did not speak English because if the English

wanted to speak to him they could learn his language. He refused the invitation of the

Emperor of Brazil because he did not visit Emperors. During the siege of Paris, to end

the war, he felt justified in challenging the Prussian king to a duel since they were both

old, one a powerful sovereign, the other a great poet and, therefore, equals. When it

was suggested that naming a rue, boulevard, or quartier was not enough to honour him,

Paris itself should be renamed, without a smile he would nod grave approval and reply

that perhaps that would happen. 129

In 1848 Louis Napoleon had sought Hugo's support and had convinced him that his

republican sympathies were genuine. With his two sons Hugo founded L'Evenement

and set about publicizing Louis Napoleon's fine qualities and his suitability for the

presidency. A wiser man like Tocqueville, who was also a member of the Assembly,

was not taken in by Louis Napoleon's charm. He voted against him because "he is

essentially Prince, the role of Washington would have no charm for him"? 30 Hugo soon

became suspicious of the president's policies and intentions and shifted his allegiance,

but by then it was too late. During the coup d'etat Hugo tried to muster resistance

127 Dearest Isa, pp. 48-49. 128 Sidney Colvin, Memoires & Notes of Persons & Places: 1852-1912 (Arnold, 1921), p. 273. Domett,

p. 280, p. 99. 129 Athenaeum, 7 October 1871, p. 466. Jacques Reynaud, Portrait Contemporains: Victor Hugo (Paris: Dentu, 1862), p. 4. Arthur B. Maurice, The Paris of the Novelists (Chapman and Hail, 1919), pp. 14-15. 130 De Tocqueville, II, p. 138.

152

among the barricades, but soon had to escape across the border. For the next eighteen

years he was to contemplate the man who had dared to make a dupe of Victor Hugo 131

Louis Napoleon's association with Thiers dates from his period of exile when he

regarded Thiers as a possible ally. Exiled to America after his first attempt at a coup

d'etat at Strasbourg in 1836, he wrote to one of his fellow conspirators (Colonel

Vaudrey, who had been acquitted) from New York complaining about the little

publicity he was allowed and expressed his conviction of Thiers's support

I have no occasion to clear myself in your eyes of the calumnies heaped upon me. They could not make me sign any engagement, as all I asked was to be left peacefully in prison; besides they did not endeavour to do so. They accuse me of having intrigued. But M. Thiers will defend me-he who has said (L'Histoire de la Revolution, vol. ii, p. 119), "All parties, when compelled to act in the dark, are reduced to expedients which are called intrigues when unsuccessful. " Some accuse my enterprise; but M. Thiers will defend me. 132

He did not; nor did he help when the imprisoned Louis Napoleon, hearing that his

father was dying, had petitioned the government for permission to visit him. 133

Whatever his personal feelings towards Thiers, he continued to cultivate his patronage

and quote him in his writings. At the time of the presidential elections Thiers was seen

as Louis Napoleons adviser. The correspondent of The Times wrote: "it is, we believe,

perfectly understood in Paris that in the event of the election of Prince Louis Napoleon

a Cabinet would be formed of the friends of M. Thiers, and that the Government of the

Republic would at once pass into the hands of that class of politicians. "134 Louis

Napoleon, new in France and inexperienced in ruling a country, needed the support of Thiers, his connections and ministerial knowledge. The president's first cabinet

contained men recommended by Thiers, but as Louis Napoleon grew in experience he

131 MerimEe, in a letter dated 20 December 1851, had written that Hugo was insulted at not being arrested during the coup d'etat. A commissary of police had told Hugo that his orders were to arrest only les gees sdrieux (Jerrold, III, p. 254n). 132 scan G. Macdonald, Napoleon III, The Empress Eugenie, The Prince Imperial, and the Franco- German War (Steel, 1871), hereafter Macdonald, p. 22. 133 Thiers wrote in 1846: "I am sorry, Prince, not to have it in my power to be of any use to you whatever in these circumstances. I have no influence with the government, and publicity would serve you little", PHW, I, p. 72. Thiers had been the president of the council in 1836, but at the time of his letter to Louis Napoleon he was out of government and out of favour with the king. 134 29 November 1848, p. 4. "M. Thiers is held to be the confidential adviser of the Prince", 21 December 1848, p. 4.

153

substituted his own men in positions of power in the government and the army in

preparation for the coup d'etat.

While Hugo in exile could at least claim moral superiority, the reputation of Thiers

was altogether different. The worst charge against Hugo was one of inconstancy. The

Times, for one, usually reported Hugo's republicanism with condescending amusement,

calling him the "adulator of Royalty when Royalty could confer favours and gifts". 135

Thiers was actively disliked -especially across the channel. Browning once called him

a "rascal". 136 The news that he was among those arrested during the coup d'etat was

received with much satisfaction. Greville noted in his diary: "Everybody rejoices at the

misfortunes of Thiers, who is universally regarded as the evil genius of France and the

greatest maker of mischief who ever played a part on the stage of politics. " The Times:

"after the part which M. Thiers has played for the last few years in the revolutions of

France, it will excite no regret to learn that he, too, has been committed to this new

Bastille. " Thackeray: "everybody is happy and d'accord at least about one point in the

new French Revolution that Thiers is locked up. Not a soul of any party that I have

seen but begins to grin at the mention of that catastrophe. " Bagehot: "as for Thiers and M. Emile de Girardin - the ablest of the exiles -I have heard no one pity them; they

have played a selfish game - they have encountered a better player - they have been

beaten -and this is the whole matter. " Even when credit was due his perspicacity, it

was not forthcoming. Referring to the coup d'etat, EBB tells her brother: "We all 'felt in

the air' as Robert said, that something was coming, but how & when, nobody guessed,

except it might be poor little Thiers, who knew it as the snails do rain, & is selfjustified at

Havre now for being frightened out of his wits at Paris a week ago. "137

Five months before the coup d'etat The Times had described the British view of Thiers:

M. Thiers is a consummate dealer in national prejudice... the foibles, the jealousies, the unreasonable antipathies, and the political

135 24 May 1850, p. 6. The paper goes on to quote from the (ministerial) Constitutionel: "M. Victor Hugo, the poet of all Royal births, Royal coronations, and princely baptisms, comes forward to thunder forth a hymn in honour of democracy and universal suffrage. Why not? The day of February, 1848, has consecrated a new sovereign. " 136 Lyon, I, p. 442. 137 G Wille, VI, p. 429. The Times, 3 December 1851, p. 4. Thackeray to Lady Stanley, 6 December 1851, Ray, II, p. 816. Twenty-six-year-old Walter Bagehot, writing as "Amicus" to the Inquirer, in February 1852, Literary Studies, ed. by Richard H. Hutton, 2 vols (Longmans, Green, 1879), hereafter Bagehot, Literary Studies, I, p. 322.4-5 December 1851, George Barrett, p. 154.

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superstitions of his countrymen are the materials out of which M. Thiers has constructed a little world of his own... M. Thiers is only a political mischiefmaker, at one time guilty of a revolution, and at another time disappointed of war. 138

The war refers to the confrontation between France and an English-led coalition of the

four other Great Powers in 1840 during Thiers's last term as president of the council

(prime minister). France had backed Egypt's claim to Syria against that of the Sultan in

Turkey supported by the coalition. Eventually, on the brink of war, an isolated Louis

Philippe had backed down and war was averted. Thiers resigned, defended himself in

his paper, le National, and gained a reputation as an Anglophobic warmonger. But what

the British mentality found more offensive-what made Browning prefer Louis

Napoleon's worst to Thiers's best139 - was his apparent ungentlemanly behaviour:

"beyond doubt the most inconsistent politician. A revolutionist, a reactionist, a

monarchist, a republican, a constitutionalist "140 Even Thomas Trollope, one of the few

who had a kind word for Thiers ("I was happy during more than one evening spent in

Thiers's house in Paris") agreed that "of dignity he had nothing at all" 141

Thiers was an adaptable and practical politician. A journalist in the 1820s, he was

very critical of Charles X's reactionary rule, and a leading supporter of Louis Philippe,

credited with the sobriquet of "Citizen King"142 Rewarded with various ministerial

posts in the July Monarchy, he was twice, in 1836 and 1840, president of the council. In

the early 1830s, during his term as Minister of the Interior, he restricted the freedom of

the press and efficiently suppressed royalist and republican insurrections. In view of

his revolutionary background he had justified his reactionary behaviour with, "to save a

revolution, you must preserve it from its own excesses. "143 Sidelined in favour of

Guizot after the failure of his foreign policies, he gave his support to the liberal deputies

demanding greater franchise, which eventually led to the fall of the Monarchy. A week

after Louis Napoleon's coup d'etat EBB wrote that Thiers's "puny tracasseries destroyed

138 2 July 1851, p. 5. 139 Dearest Isa, p. 371. 140 "Thiers", Illustrated Review, 1 April 1871, hereafter Thiers, Illustrated Review, 391-95 (p. 392). 141 Trollope, I, p. 283. Thiers was viewed with much contempt when, in charge of suppressing a royalist uprising, he had captured their leader, Duchess de Berry, by bribing her chamberlain. "Adolphe Thiers", People's Magazine (June 1871), hereafter Thiers, People's Magazine, 375-78 (p. 376). 142 Dryer, p. 591. Browning had received Dryer's book as a gift from Chapman (New Letters, p. 180, n. 2).

155

the Republican Assembly just as it destroyed the throne of Louis Philippe". 1« In 1848

he accepted the Republic but positioned himself firmly on the right. Even though he

remained a monarchist at heart, he slowly adapted himself into a republican. It

surprised very few people when in 1873, after a vote of no confidence, he resigned as

president and, seeing where the will and the talent lay, joined his life-long enemies, the

socialists 145

His tarnished reputation, lack of gentlemanly charm, and his blunt and practical

methodology certainly enhanced the charges of hypocrisy in his relationship to Louis

Napoleon. These were based on Thiers's reputation as the historian of Napoleon

Bonaparte and his criticism of Louis Napoleon's foreign policy. Whatever personal

motivation was involved in Thiers's behaviour, these charges are based more on British

prejudice than facts. Thiers, like many others of his generation throughout Europe,

hero-worshipped Napoleon Bonaparte; many assumed that such sentiments makes one

a Bonapartist.

No man in his time.. . has done more than M. Thiers to enhance the glamour of the Napoleonic legend in its influence over the whole French population... Yet no one has, throughout the whole of these twenty years of the revival of the empire, been a more persistent or a more implacable antagonist, through good report quite as much as through evil report of the entire scheme of imperialism. 146

As if anachronism was a virtue and admiration for the uncle had to reflect on the

nephew. As a minister of Louis Philippe, and well aware of the power the name of

Bonaparte had over most of the population he, naturally, viewed Louis Napoleon's

political activities with concern. With the fall of the Monarchy, to continue in politics,

Thiers would have had to accept the Republic. A historian wrote in 1864 that the

relationship between Louis Napoleon and Thiers during the presidency campaigning of

1848 was that "Thiers ... and other intriguers... advocated his claims; but only in the

expectation that he would display his incapacity, and serve as a stepping stone". 147

143 Thiers, Illustrated Review, p. 394. 144 To Anna Jameson, 10 December 1851, Kenyon, p. 34. 145 See Adolphe Thiers, The Rights of Property: A refutation of Communism & Socialism (Groombridge, 1848), where he lashes out at the "dangerous doctrines" and their leading advocates like Fourier, George Sand, Louis Blanc, Proudhon (p. v). 146 Thiers, Illustrated Review, p. 392. 147 Dryer, p. 627.

156

And yet, to a writer in 1871, Thiers's progress and his reaction to having badly lost his

footing appears illogical:

As illustrative, again of his ineradicable inconsistency, it is especially worthy of note that he was among those who on the 10th of December, 1848, voted for the Presidency of Prince Louis Napoleon, whose candidature until then he had opposed systematically, and whose career since then he has pursued with the most virulent and malignant implacability. 148

The other point of blame resulted from Thiers's foresight in sensing the danger

from the growing power of Prussia - generally referred to as his warmongering: "as we have before remarked, no French statesman has done more to irritate the minds of his

countrymen against Prussia, or excited their desires to possess the Rhine provinces,

than M. Thiers. Since 1866 the warlike tendencies of his speeches have increased. "149

Thiers had warned against Italian unification, correctly arguing that small and weak

nations make better and safer neighbours. In 1867, in the aftermath of the French

disaster in Mexico and the Austrian humiliation by Prussia, he had attacked France's

foreign policy as misguided and hazardous, pointing out that "after having committed

the unpardonable blunder of creating, beyond the Alps, a nation of twenty-three

millions of men, she had perpetrated a still graver fault by permitting Prussia such an

unparalleled development of territory". 150 He stated that it is a blunder and a crime for

148 Tiers, Illustrative Review, p. 395. 149 Thy, People's Magazine, p. 378. Punch reported: "M. Thiers, in his war-speech, protested against defensive war. He said, 'A defensive war begins when one has been unfortunate. I add that it is little in accordance with our national character. ' Which, then, must be Offensive. The deduction is M. Thiers's, not ours. We adore French persons" (11 Janauary 1868, p. 20). 150 The Marquis de Gricourt, France and Germany: Imperial Rule Under Napoleon III, trans. by Edward Murray (Handwicke, 1871), p. 19. EBB uses the very notion of "blunder" to justify the annexation of Savoy and Nice (which controlled routes into Italy) as necessary for the safety of France: "if Italy, for instance, expands itself to a nation of twenty-six millions, would you blame the Emperor who 'did it all' (Cavour's own phrase) for providing an answer to his own people in some small foresight about the frontier, when in the course of fifty or a hundred years they may reproach his memory with the existence of an oppressive rival or enemy next door? Mr. Russell said to me last January 'Everything that comes out proves the Emperor to have acted towards Italy like an Italian rather than a Frenchman. ' At which we applaud... But-let us be just-that would not be a satisfactory opinion in France of the Head of the State, would it, do you think? It was obviously his duty not to be negligent of certain eventualities in the case of his own country, to be a 'Frenchman' there", to John Forster, May 1860, Kenyon, II, p. 385.

157

France, the arbiter of Europe, to implement measures that would strengthen other

countries 151

Thiers believed that if the concept of nationalistic self-determination is followed to

its logical conclusion, simply through size and numbers, there would be only two great

powers in Europe-Russia and Germany; France would become a second-rate power.

He stated in the Assembly that Italian unity had caused Austrian weakness which had

led to Prussian strength, and was furious that France had not rushed to Austria's

defence. France had lost the friendship of Russia after the Crimean war, of Austria after

the Italian war, and Britain after annexing Savoy and Nice. He painted a bleak picture

of a France, bereft of all allies, facing a powerful and menacing Prussia. 152 France

could not even rely on the Kingdom of Italy which had become Prussia's new ally (and

was given Venetia after Austrian defeat), and still objected to the French presence in

Rome. In 1871 the great historian, Michelet had tried to blame Louis Napoleon's

blunders in the 1860s on his health: "an aged, infirm emperor, almost worn out by

disease, was too preoccupied with his miserable Mexico to think of Europe. A resolute

vigorous man would have gone, the day after Sadowa, into Germany, for the sake of

German liberty, and to save Hanover, Hesse, and those wretched Bavarians. "153 Louis

Napoleon's health was growing worse, but the truth of the matter was that the Prussian

campaign against Austria had been so fast and efficient that the Emperor had no chance

to force himself as mediator. Had the French army tried to mobilize in order to force

concessions from Bismarck it would have faced a very strong and confident force ready

to do battle again.

Thiers saw the danger to France from Prussia more clearly than anyone else and

repeatedly advocated the view that the growth of Prussian strength must be checked. It

may, therefore, come as a great surprise that when Louis Napoleon, who was very

aware of the many weaknesses of the French armed forces, tried to instigate reform in

1867 and 1868, he was met with great resistance from the liberal factions. "The Emperor

was checked at every turn. " Thiers "cried" that the Prussian armies are "fables", their

strength exaggerated, and convinced the Assembly that "the existing army was ample for the defeat of the Prussians"; he accused the Emperor of despotism and wanting to

151 Spender, Fall of the Second Empire, p. 37. 152 For Thiers's speech of 14 March 1867 see AR (1867), pp. 219-21. 153 Jules Michelet, France Before Europe (Smith, Elder, 1871), p. 80. Michelet had been dismissed from his post by Louis Napoleon in 1852, Dryer, p. 652.

158

turn the country into a "vast Barracks". 154 The opposition's view was that military

reforms by France would aggravate the military tension in Europe and lead to an

atmosphere of aggression. Ollivier even announced in the Assembly that the Prussian

army was simply for defence purposes. 155 "Finally a scheme of national defence, a

mutilated and deficient scheme, was passed. And when it was passed, the chambers

refused the supplies for carrying it into practice. "156 Thus John Russell wrote after the

war that even though the French had claimed that "four years of unceasing vigilance"

had allowed the Emperor to complete preparations, when war was declared, it was

discovered "that instead of 250,000 men, only 140,000 could be placed on the frontier of

France; that the commissariat was defective, the transport defective, the strategy

defective, the tactics defective" 157 In 1870, correctly sensing that France would lose the

war, Thiers had argued against it at the last moment. This is the one instance where a

case for the charge of duplicity against Thiers could be made and many did so. But

whereas Thiers could claim that he simply believed the assurances of the Minister of the

Interior (Rouher), Louis Napoleon had to take full responsibility and blame as the one

man more aware than anyone else of the weaknesses of the army. As early as 1860 he

had written that having been dose at hand to the armed forces, "[I] have witnessed the

defects, and I wish to remedy them". 158 The following year an unsympathetic reporter

wrote that Thiers, on his way to Paris to assume control,

gave a detailed description of that famous sitting of the corps Ikgislatif, when he, prophet-like, as he imagines, expressed his firm

154"M. Thiers on the Empire", Examiner, 1 July 1871, hereafter Thiers, Examiner, pp. 648-49. 155 AR (1867), pp. 240-42. 156 mom, Examiner, p. 649. AR (1868), pp. 194-98. 157 Earl Russell, The Foreign Policy of England (Longmans, Green, 1871), hereafter John Russell, p. 84. In 1861, the British ambassador, Earl Cowley, in his report had tried to convince the government that Louis Napoleon had no intention of fighting because he was broke and possessed a poor army and "brilliant as was the campaign of 1859 for the French arms, it is well known, and nobody is more aware of it than the Emperor, that the French army on two occasions escaped disaster almost by a miracle", Cowley, p. 235. "This battle of Magenta being very nearly a drawn battle and disastrous to thousands, Macmahon's arrival at five in the afternoon barely averting defeat", The Complete Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ed. by Charlotte Porter & Hellen A. Clarke, 6 vole (New York: Crowell, 1900), III, p. 432, n. 106. The French army was still the strongest in Europe in the early 1860s, but was no match, in terms of efficiency and leadership, for the Prussian army of 1870. See "Rough Notes on the French Army", TEM, 19 (1852), hereafter French Army, 157-63 (pp. 160-61). 158 Open letter to Persigny, 25 July 1860, AR (1860), p. 225. Louis Napoleon had taken personal command of the army during the war with Austria. The Times wrote that of the battle of Solferino he "was to be seen everywhere directing the battle", 1 July 1859, p. 9.

159

belief in the defeat of France... He then described, but not without betraying a most painful sense of satisfaction for his foresight, the tumultuous scenes which took place on the 16th and 17th of July, just before the official declaration of war 159

The Prince surely is deriving much satisfaction in the ironical manner he uses

Thiers's and Hugo's backgrounds and reputations in creating the role of the Historian.

After years of abuse, there is pleasure in turning the tables and calling them liars: his

history is not the truth, but a Thiers-Hugo "exercise" [1221-23] (he does not even

dignify their works as history). There is delicious irony in the Historian's palpable

shock at the accusations of the Assembly members that the Head-servant "cannot but

intend some stroke of state" [1364]. It is very naughty to have Hugo express the view

that the Head-servant was perhaps unfairly condemned for the loss of life during the

coup d'etat; to have Thiers, with his warmongering reputation, refute selfish war or be

shocked and shamed by the suppression of the Roman Republic -a policy strongly

advocated by Thiers. (As the one with the power of causing real damage to Louis

Napoleon, there is much more of Thiers, than Hugo, in the makeup of the Historian, as

is shown at the end when the Prince refers mockingly and exclusively to him:

"Veracious and imaginary 11-tiers, / Who map out thus the life I might have led" [2084-

85]. ) The tone and approach should be apparent from the beginning of the exercise

when the Historian calls the members of the Assembly (like Thiers and Hugo) "one and

all ... knaves and fools" [1241-42].

There is also a certain amount of humour involved in the incongruity of the

partnership of the two men who were not only opposites politically, but also quite

different in background, appearance, and character. Hugo, the son of a general in

Napoleon's army, was thickset, strong, brave, and famous for having a very big head; a larger-than-life character who lived up to his reputation of being able to eat, work, drink, love, talk, or do whatever, to a larger degree than anybody else. He was reputed

to have teeth strong enough to crack peach pits, and beard thick enough to damage his

barber's razors. 160 But he was a writer, not a politician; his oratory, characterized by

grand phrases and biblical rhythms, was suited more to the pulpit than parliament and his approach was often blunt, tedious, and offensive. Normanby recorded in June 1848

that the "poet-peer, now le citoyen Victor Hugo, made his first appearance in the

159 From the Cologne Gazette, quoted in Cassell, I, pp. 454-55. 160 According to Sainte-Beuve, Goncourt Journal, 14 February 1863, I, p. 1233.

160

tribune of the National Assembly... Professing a great admiration for the revolution

itself, he blamed everything it had hitherto done. "161 Hugo's style never changed. In

March 1871, after the Second Empire had been officially deposed in the Assembly, "M.

Victor Hugo rose and made a speech of unexampled silliness-or of silliness paralleled

only by himself. For a lengthened period he poured forth a foaming cataract of tropes,

sirnilies, paradoxes, rhapsodies, boasts, and threats, such as the Assembly could hardly

endure with common patience. " For example, his speech to drive out the Prussians

from Paris began: "Let the streets of the town devour the enemy, let the windows bust

open with fury, let the rooms send forth their furniture, let the roof cast down its tiles.

Let the tombs cry out... "162

Unlike Hugo, Thiers was of obscure parentage, diminutive, not known for physical

bravery, a real politician, and very much at home in the Assembly. His oratory was the

exact opposite of Hugo's. He was not eloquent and had a weak, nasal voice, but he took

great care in the preparation of his speeches and his arguments were substantial and

effective. One famous speech against free trade was described as marked by

"irresistible force of argument", "persuasive eloquence", and "correct enumeration of

facts"? 63 "He is probably the greatest speaker which French parliaments of this

century have produced" reported the People's Magazine reluctantly: "he begins

awkwardly; has a disagreeable organ, which often rises into a screaming tone"

accompanied by "vivacious gestures" and "restless jumping backwards and forwards in

the tribune". But he is still "the speaker whose words make the deepest impression,

both within and without the chamber" because "every speech of Thiers' is thought over

and thoroughly worked out, and the subject of which it treats so completely exhausted,

that it appears to the audience, after Thiers has finished, quite impossible to say any

more about it"? 64

The effectiveness of his oratory was accepted by friend and foe; they also agreed that his appearance, however, was more suited to the position of the king's jester than

161 N nby, II, pp. 13-14. Some days later, during the June insurrections, his house was sacked and he had to go into hiding for a short period. 162 Cassell, II, p. 298; I, p. 148. 163 Speech of M. Thiers ["On the Commercial Policy of France and in Opposition to the Introduction of FREE-TRADE INTO FRANCE, Delivered in the National Assembly of France, On the 27th of June, 1851"], trans. by M. de Saint Felix (Ollivier, 1852), pp. iii-iv. 164 Th{ers, People's Magazine, p. 377.

161

France's foremost politician-"his pigmy form, his nasal voice... chubby, negligent,

vulgar":

In person, M. Thiers is almost diminutive, with a cast of features, though intellectual, reflective and sarcastic, far from possessing the traits of beauty. Moreover, the face itself, small in form, as befits the body, is encumbered with a pair of spectacles so large that, when peering over the marble edge of the long narrow pulpit, styled the tribune, whence all speakers address the Chambre, it is described as appearing rather the appendage than the supporter of two glaring orbs of crystal. 165

The final image which would stay with the reader: "Doff spectacles, wipe pen, shut

book, decamp" [2087].

"Hohenstiel-Schwangau's policy is peace! " [1730]

With the exception of Russia and prior to German unification in 1870, France was

the largest and richest single nation in Europe. It had a reputation for territorial avarice

usually justified by the ostensible need to protect the glory, the honour, and the

interests of France. The restoration of the Empire by a Bonaparte who had often

advocated the re-writing of the accords of the Congress of Vienna was alarming to

Europe. It raised the possibility of France, which seldom tolerated defeat and

dishonour, instigating another European war. The choice of Louis Napoleon for

president was certainly popular with many in the armed forces. Tait's Edinburgh

Magazine wrote in 1852:

The desire to pluck honour and glory from the standards of a foreign enemy excited the French army to frantic demonstrations of joy on the occasion of Mons. Bonaparte's first election to the Presidency. He is, after all, the nephew of the man who made the French army what it is. On the occasion of that first election, we witnessed the transports of the troops near Lyon. Their enthusiasm was almost terrific. They fancied that the war must needs begin; they longed to march into Italy or to cross the channel, to fight against the Austrians or the English 166

165 Thiers, Illustrated Review, p. 392. Thiers, Works, I, p. vii. 166 French Army, p. 159.

162

The soldiers might have been reminded that eight years before, during the Boulogne

trial, Louis Napoleon had told the court that his uncle had preferred to abdicate rather

that accept the loss of territory forced on France by the allies, and that he, Louis

Napoleon, had "not lived a single day forgetful of such lessons"; he meant to revenge

the defeat of Waterloo. 167 His cousin, Prince Napoleon, who was also elected into the

Assembly in 1848, had often expressed in his speeches the importance of Italian and

Polish autonomy for the peace of Europe-a Napoleonic message certain to upset and

concern the great powers. 1M The very presence of a Bonaparte on the throne of France,

the change in European alliances, the annexation of territory, were all in violation of the

1815 treaties and Louis Napoleon constantly referred to his continual abhorrence

towards them. 169 In 1863, in a letter to the sovereigns of Europe, and later in the

Assembly, he announced that the 1815 treaties are destroyed and have ceased to

exist 170 Two months before Sadowa, with France going on a war footing, he reminded

the people how he, like them detested the treaties by which others sought to regulate

French foreign policy. 171 Since the treaties had weakened France by denying it control

of the left bank of the Rhine, this was a clear indication of what France expected to gain from the war between Austria and Prussia and was prepared to force the issue through

arms. On the other hand Louis Napoleon took every opportunity in his speeches,

proclamations, and letters, to calm Europe with assurances of his peaceful intentions

("Quelle a ete constament ma politique? Rassurer 1'Europe"). 172 As a presidential

candidate he advocated that peace and order, not war, will relieve the country of its ills.

He explained that France's warlike activities in the last century were the result of

167 pi, I, pp. 51-52. 168 "La Pologne et l'Italie doivent se constituer! Leur libert6 est necessaire pour assurer la libert6 de l'Europe; leur cause est juste: c'est celle de notre democratie", Aux citoyens de la Corse, 24 mars 1848, British Library, Tracts, Cup. 21. g. 25 (7). 169 John Russell, pp. 89-90. 170 "Les traits de Vienne sont detruits", "les traites de 1815 ont cesst d'exister", Oeuvres, V, p. 200, p. 211. "The solemn compact' that no member of Buonaparte family should sit on the throne of France was forgotten at first opportunity. England "was the foremost to recognize the sovereignty of the man who had violated it-The Anglo-French alliance, and the war against Russia, was another blow to shatter the fabric

... The grand alliance was overthrown, the treaties were torn to shreds", Spender, The Kingdom of Italy, p. 448. 171 "Comme la grande majorite du peuple francais, que ses interets 6taient les miens et que je d6testais comme lui ces trait6s de 1815 dont veut faire aujourd'hui 1'unique base de notre politique exterieure", Speech at Auxerre, 6 May 1866, Oeuvres, V, pp. 263-64. 172 Opening of the Assembly, 8 February 1859, Oeuvres, V, p. 74.

163

provocation by others-France was invaded and was forced to reply by conquest. 173

During his presidency, at the time of the Italian wars of 1848-49, The Times reported that

sympathy for the Italians was such that had Louis Napoleon decided to cross the Alps

the whole nation would be behind him. The correspondent emphasized, however, that

the president's "desire has become still stronger, still more earnest, to do his utmost to

keep France from war, to preserve the peace of the continent". 174

1_

Punch, February 1859.

Louis Napoleon's famous phrase occurred in 1852 during a speech at Bordeaux

celebrating the nation's enthusiasm for the change in the form of government. He

declared that in response to those who say Empire means war, "I say Empire means

peace". 175 In 1859, aware that he would soon be at war with Austria, he told the

Assembly that he made that declaration at Bordeaux in order to prove that if the heir of

Emperor Napoleon mounted the throne he would not begin a new era of conquests but

inaugurate a system of peace which would not be troubled except in defense of great

173 "Avec la guerre, point de soulagement ä nos maux... La France, lors de sa premiere revolution, a 6t6 guerriere parce qu'on l'avait forc6e de l'etre. A l'invasion, eile re pondit par la

conquete", Oeuvres, III, p. 27. 174 4 April 1849, p. 6.

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164

national interests. The conclusion of his speech left few in doubt that troubled times

were ahead. He said that a man in his position "is raised, by the most solemn

responsibilities, above the low level where mean interests struggle, and he has for his

principle motives as well as his final judges: God, his conscience, and posterity" 176

Despite this attempt at justification, with the anticipation of war, the phrase was

sarcastically used by Louis Napoleon's detractors to imply and highlight his craft and

hypocrisy. After the war with Austria, a liberal wit anonymously published a pamphlet

suggesting that the Emperor had omitted two important words after his phrase -

"rendue impossible". But he confessed admiration for the Emperor's "astonishing

command of countenance which enables him to propound such views without any

relaxation of gravity" 177 One can appreciate the writer's feelings in view of the

sincerity with which- three months after the annexation of Savoy and Nice - Louis

Napoleon would write: "I said it in 1852 at Bordeaux, and my opinion is still the same -

I have great conquests to make, but only in France. Her interior organization, her moral

development, the increase of her resources, have still immense progress to make. There

a field exists vast enough for my ambition, and sufficient to satisfy it "178

The phrase also provided Punch with an excuse for many bad puns. "L'empire c'est

Tepee" since the safety of France is "at the mercy of Napoleon's

(s)word". "The Empire is the Pay" explains the vast sums needed for the war. "The

Empire's Peace, and, L. Napoleon, you / Are Peace's Dove -we've recognised your

coup" suggests that the Emperor has succeeded in pulling off another coup (d'etat).

When it dawned on everyone that France was annexing territory, Punch realized the

real truth of the Emperor's phrase:

That the "Empire is Peace" you still say, But while guns cast by hundreds we see,

Some natural doubts force their way, Which description of peace it may be,

175 "Par esprit de defiance, certaines personnes se disent: 1'Empire, c'est la guerre. Moi je dis: 1'Empire, c'est la paix", Speech at Bordeaux, 9 October 1852, Oeuvres, III, pp. 342-43. 176 "'Voulant prouver par lä que si 1'heritier de 1'Empereur Napoleon remontait sur le tr8ne, il ne recommencerait pas une ere de conquetes, mais il inaugurerait un systeme de paix qui ne pourrait etre troubl6 que pour la defense de grands int@rets nationaux. " "On s'ellve, par la plus grave des responsabilit6s, au-dessus de la region infime oil se d4battent des interets vulgaires, et ron a pour premiers mobiles comme pour derniers juges: Dieu, sa conscience et la posterite", 8 February 1859, Oeuvres, V, p. 74, p. 77. 177 Is the Empire Peace? (Ridgway, 1859), p. 6, p. 11. 178 Open letter to Persigny, 25 July 1860, AR (1860), p. 226.

165

That spelt with an "e" and an "a, " Or that spelt with an "i" and an "e. "179

This interpretation became very popular in 1866 when France was going to "mediate"

between Austria and Prussia in return for territory along the Rhine. Punch set up Louis

Napoleon as "European Umpire and Commission Agent" who exchanges old maps for

new, neatly breaks state treaties, and picks up the pieces with utmost care. Thus the

Napoleonic Idea becomes "Picking Up the Pieces":

Yes, "L'Empire c'est la paix! " Just look How battle bleeds, and fighting fleeces.

What war e'er brought so much to book, As peace, if one "picks up the pieces? "180

Punch was not always in a humorous mood. In one poem it traced the wars of the

Empire with the poem's title, "L'Empire c'est la paix", serving as the refrain at the end

of each stanza. It ends.

And if these records of the truth be weak, To sweep your stubborn doubts, like dreams, away;

With trumpet tongue let the armed thousands speak- Who late through Paris marched in war-array -

"The Empire is Peace! "181

At the fundamental level war formed one of the twin pillars supporting the edifice

of the Second Empire. In an open letter to president Louis Napoleon, Louis Blanc had

warned of the real dangers of giving in to temptation and restoring the empire. A

Napoleonic empire needs war and its trappings, otherwise it is nothing but "despotism

without glory; great lords covered with embroidery, without soldiers covered with

scars; courtiers over our heads without the world at our feet; it is a great name without a

great man; it is the Empire without the Emperor" 182 This is probably why Louis

Napoleon ignored the advice of his reactionary ministers and decided to move in the

direction of a constitutional monarchy. Ultimately, however, he opted for war and

179 29 January 1859, p. 44; 7 May 1859, p. 181; 19 February 1859, p. 75; 19 March 1859, p. 120. 180 28 July 1866, p. 38; 14 July 1866, p. 20. See also "Too Late", 21 July 1866, p. 24. 18127 August 1859, p. 85. 182 "The Empire and the Emperor", Louis Blanc's Monthly Review: The New World (August 1849), 41-54 (p. 54).

166

glory, leaving death and destruction as the immediate legacy of his Napoleonic empire,

not peace.

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Chapter 5

History

The French people are very democratical in their tendencies, but they must have a visible type of hero-worship, and they find it in the bearer of that name Napoleon. That name is the only tradition dear to them, and it is deeply dear. That a man bearing it, and appealing at the same time to the whole people upon democratical principles, should be answered from the heart of the people, should neither astonish, nor shame, nor enrage anybody.

EBB

Louis Napoleon, a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, was now chosen president for four years. At the end of three years, his term of office was extended to ten years.

In one year more the president asked the people if it would not be better that he should be called Emperor instead of President; "But, " said he, "do as you like; I leave the matter in your hands. " "Yes, " said the people, "you shall be called Emperor"; and Emperor he has been called from that day to this.

My First Book of French History

Laws may be justly broken when society is hurrying on to its own ruin, and a desperate remedy is indispensable for its salvation; and again, when the government, supported by the mass of the people, becomes the organ of its interest and their hopes.

Napoleon IIIl

In the "Thiers-and-Victor-Hugo exercise" [1223] the aim of the Prince is to take

controversial episodes from his (i. e. Louis Napoleon's) career and to analyze and justify

them. He takes on the role of a historian and provides a third-person narrative of some

of these episodes. The historian, in common with nineteenth-century style of historical

writing, includes his personal opinions in his text. There are two other voices as well,

whose interaction provides the political debate. The narrative features a Head-servant,

who is the historian's version of the Prince, and Sagacity, an invented personification

1 EBB to Anna Jameson, 10 December 1851, Kenyon, II, p. 36. Ebenezer C. Brewer (Cassell, 1868), p. 69. History of Julius Caesar, trans. by T. Wright, 2 vols (Cassell, Pettier, and Galpin, 1865-66), I, p. 352.

168

acting as the Head-servant's political adviser? It soon becomes evident that the Head-

servant believes that one should rule by adhering to a moral code; that action and

thought should be regulated by a sense of righteousness, truth, and adherence to the

letter of the law. Sagacity, on the other hand, provides the voice of the consummate

political adviser who does not see the world as only black and white and concerns

himself with efficiency and damage control. The Head-servant believes there is a right

manner of behaviour; for Sagacity the means, within obvious limits, are justified by the

ends. Before beginning this "exercise" [1223] the Prince has specified that this version

of events is not the complete truth but, like the works of Thiers and Hugo, a mixture of

"history / And falsehood" [1221-22]. That is to say, the "exercise" relates a possible

version of events had someone like the Head-servant ruled. The reader will soon know

that Louis Napoleon had actually acted as Sagacity advises. The Prince's strategy is to

exonerate himself (that is to say, Louis Napoleon) through the results of the implied

comparison between the two methods of leadership. Even though its clear that the

Historian agrees with the Head-servant's view that politics should be conducted openly

and without trickery, there is no evidence of complicity in his account. In this

alternative history, his account should be seen as truthful and accurate.

For the "exercise" to work properly the reader needs to be to a great extent familiar

with the events the Prince is describing. Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau is unique among

Browning's poems in that it depends on the reader's historical knowledge. In his

2 Louis Napoleon referred to himself as being at the head of the government: "je suis ä la bete du Gouvernement en France" (Oeuvres, V, p. 164). "Head" is the correct translation for "chef" which was a standard and common term for a ruler. Louis Napoleon would be "chef du Gouvernement" or "chef dune grande nation" (Oeuvres, III, p. 153, p. 283). EBB said he "is the head in Europe of democratic progress & national ideas.. . it is a great Head-it respects Law & Peace" (George Barrett, p. 229). She told her sister his enemies refer to him as "that astute head" (Twenty-TWo Unpublished Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning Addressed to Henrietta and Arabeia Moulton-Barrett (New York: United Feature Syndicate, 1935), p. 88). One of the enemies, Punch, suggested that the French Cabinet should be depicted "in a headless condition, in accordance with that state of moral decapitation, to which they have been doomed by the President's determination to permit the use of no head but his own" (December 1849, p. 226). In Aurora Leigh, "This Head has all the people for a heart" [VI, 72]. "He appears to me to be the great political head in Europe" (Letters of Benjamin Jowett, ed. by Evelyn Abbott and Lewis Campbell (John Murray, 1899), hereafter Jowett, Letters, p. 57). A head-servant connotes a democratic, law-abiding ruler who is only first among equals. "Sagacious" and "sagacity" were common honorific and respectful terms often applied to Louis Napoleon. "Not to mention Napoleon III. without the epithets 'faithful, ' 'wise, "sagacious, ' had, as it were, become law" (The Two Napoleons and England (Simpkin, 1858), p. 54). A "bold, powerful, and sagacious man" with a mighty influence "created by his own strong sagacity" (Greenwood, p. 143, p. iii). "Julius Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, and Cromwell are the only three princes that ever equalled him in political

169

historical plays Browning can manipulate history for dramatic purposes without

altering the theme of the play. King Charles I' presence in Strafford's cell, or the time of

King Victor's death need not be historically accurate. Even in The Ring and the Book and

Red Cotton Night-Cap Country which are based closely on actual events, the reader does

not need in any way to search for information beyond what Browning provides within

the poems. Awareness of the plot and intricacies of the Guelf/Ghibellin conflict are not

necessary to the understanding of Sordello. In his 1863 dedication of Sordello to Milsand,

Browning wrote that "the historical decoration was purposely of no more importance

than a background requires" .3 Most of Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, however, is

comprehensible only if the reader is able to judge the truth of the Prince's narrative,

claims, and choices; and this requires a certain degree of familiarity with Louis

Napoleon's career and the history of the period. I would like to stress that Browning

assumes this knowledge on the part of the reader. I have, therefore, gone beyond

"decoration" in providing an historical background which will allow the modern reader

to follow the events described in the "exercise", and identify the correspondence and

discrepancies between the Prince's claims and Louis Napoleon's acts.

The issues examined in the "exercise" are Louis Napoleon's presidency and coup

d'etat, the French Republic's suppression of the Roman Republic, the annexation of

Savoy and Nice, and Louis Napoleon's dynastic ambitions. In each case the Prince,

through dialogue between the Head-servant and Sagacity, examines the problems

which confronted him and the choices he had to make. The Head-servant explains the

reasons behind the Head-servant's ideology and actions, and the Historian recounts

their results. Sagacity explains the reasons behind Louis Napoleon's actions; the reader

already knows their results. The Prince aims to stress the advantages of his rule and

expose the flaws in the Head-servant's system of leadership. However, careful as

always, he protects himself somewhat by stressing at the outset that he is not incapable

of believing and acting like the Head-servant, if only one lived in "the better world

where goes tobacco-smoke" [1225].

sagacity" (Letters of Walter Savage Land or, ed, by Stephen Wheeler (Duckworth, 1899), p. 193). I have not found an instance where he was referred to as "servant". 3 LAEP, I, p. 353.

170

The Presidency and Coup d'Etat [1232-1513]

Up to the time of his coup d'etat Louis Napoleon had repeatedly declared his

loyalty to the Republic. He had written in his presidential election manifesto, "I am not

an ambitious man, dreaming now of the Empire and war... I shall ever remain faithful

to the duties imposed upon me... and the will of the Assembly. " The passage most

often quoted by his detractors was, "I should consider it a point of honour to leave to

my successor, at the end of four years, the executive powers strengthened, liberty intact,

and a real progress established. "4 Such was his apparent zeal that after he took the

required presidential oath to remain faithful to the Republic, he asked to address the

Assembly and, on his own initiative, took an impromptu second oath: "I shall regard as

the enemies of the country all who may seek to subvert the constitution which has been

established by the whole of France. "5 Even when in November 1850 he tried to revise

the constitution to allow the president to run for a second term (the constitution

required a four-year interval), he stressed, "that which now occupies me is not to know

who is to govern France in 1852; I will employ the time which remains to me, so that the

transition shall be made without any disturbance. "6 However, in December 1851 he

dissolved the National Assembly, betrayed the republican constitution, and assumed

dictatorial powers. The breaking of his oath is the first issue the Prince deals with.

The historian opens the narrative at the end of the Head-servant's term of

presidency. It was clear to all that the different factions that formed the Assembly were

all conspiring to usurp power once the president stepped down. These "knaves or

fools" [1242], whether monarchist, clerical, imperialist, or socialist were interested not in

the welfare of the country ("Squabble at odds on every point save one" [1351]), but in

their own gain. The Head-servant was tempted to take charge and destroy the

"villany" [1271] of that "heap of untrustworthiness" [1270], the Assembly. "But this

man chose truth and was wiser so" [1287]. He knew interference in the natural order of

4 The Times, 30 November 1848, p. 5. "Je ne suis pas un ambitieux qui reve tantOt 1'Empire et la guerre... je mettrais mon honneur ä laisser, au bout de quatre ans, ä mon successeur, le pouvoir affermi, la libert4 intacte, un progres reel accompli", Oeuvres, III, pp. 24-25. 5 Greenwood, p. 105. See also Napoleon the Little, pp. 13-14; PHW, I, p. 108. "Je verrai des ennemis de la patrie dans tour ceux qui tenteraient de changer, par des voies illegales, ce que la France

entiere a etabli", Oeuvres, III, p. 29. 6 The Times, 14 November 1850, p. 3. "Ce qui me preoccupe surtout, soyez-en persuades, ce n'est pas de savoir qui gouvernera la France en 1852; c'est d'employer le temps dont je dispose, de

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society, of subverting God's way "Of leaving little minds their liberty / Of littleness to

blunder on through life" [1290-91] would be wrong and counter-productive. No matter

how selfless the act, how beneficial the results, to break the law and stray from the truth

would only benefit "The Adversary" [1328], Satan.

See the sage, with the hunger for the truth, And see his system that's all true, except The one weak place that's stanchioned by a lie! The moralist, that walks with head erect I' the crystal clarity of air so long, Until a stumble, and the man's one mire!

[1330-35]

So, throughout his term of office, despite the insults and degradation [1379], he

"endured to help" [1311] by doing his "appointed service, and forbore / Extraneous

action" [1345-46]. Not surprisingly, since the treacherous are ever distrustful, his

silence and forbearance were viewed with suspicion. The members of the Assembly,

perceiving with dismay His silence paid no tribute to their noise, They turned on him. "Dumb menace in that mouth, Malice in that unstridulosity!

[1360-63]

They concluded, based on their own mentality, that "He cannot but intend some stroke

of state" [1364] to prevent their "transference / O' the Hohenstielers-Schwangauese to

king, / Pope, autocrat, or socialist republic! " [1366-68]. They, therefore, constantly

stood in his way and even reduced the popular franchise to limit his support-"Dock,

by the million, of its friendly joints, / The electoral body" [1371-72]. Thus the situation

continued until "the clock told it was judgement time" [1380]. Having finished his

term, he walked down "Each step of the eminence, as he first engaged" [1383] and

stood an ordinary citizen once more. He addressed the people and explained the

difficulties he faced in the performance of his duties. He asked them to consider his

credentials and to give him the mandate to bring the country out of danger.

There's a remedy.

maniere que la transition, quelle quelle soit, se fasse sans agitation et sans trouble", Oeuvres, III, p. 199.

172

Take me - who know your mind, and mean your good, With dearer head and stouter arm than they, Or you, or haply anybody else - And make me master for the moment!

[1396-1400]

The people did so with enthusiasm. What followed proved that he had been correct in

his suspicions regarding the intentions of the "knaves" and "fools". "There was

uprising, masks dropped, flags unfurled, / Weapons outflourished in the wind" [1417-

18]. But he proved the people were justified in placing their faith and lives in his hands:

Heavily did he let his fist fall plumb On each perturber of the public peace, No matter whose the wagging head it broke.

[1419-21]

He quickly suppressed all who threatened society and restored order. The result of his saving of society was that critics blamed him for the number of

casualties incurred:

Next, The inevitable comment came on work And work's cost: he was censured as profuse Of human life and liberty: too swift And thorough his procedure, who had lagged At the outset, lost the opportunity Through timid scruples as to right and wrong.

[1442-48]

The Head-servant had strictly followed the law and had legally asked the nation's

permission before dealing with the fools and knaves. His lack of interference had

allowed subversive factions to organize and plots to reach fruition: in place of a few

barricades he had to deal with an uprising. Instead of showing appreciation for his

respect of the law and belief in the democratic system, critics blamed him for failing to deal with the problem at the start.

Sagacity, making his first appearance, admonishes the Head-servant's

uncompromising obedience to his principles. He states that when one has promised to "guard and guide", if the situation "demands" [1456] it, one is obliged to act, even at the price of breaking the law. He should have destroyed the eggs of conspiracy before

they hatched into reptiles; it is useless to prescribe medicine once the disease has passed

173

into a fatal stage; loyalty is futile if it leads the country to "perdition" [1471]. Because of

his hesitation to act earlier, there followed:

thrice the expenditure we blame Of human life and liberty: for want O' the by-blow, came deliberate butcher's-work!

[1472-74]

The Head-servant is unmoved. He stands by his principles of "one law for all" [1476]

and truth "at any price! " [1477], because in the long run, the value and benefits of a

society based on truth and law are much more significant than a single instance of

tragedy. He knows that

'T is just o' the great scale, that such happy stroke Of falsehood would be found a failure. Truth Still stands unshaken at her base by me, Reigns paramount i' the world, for the large good O' the long generations, -I and you Forgotten like this buried foolishness!

[1478-83]

Such deposits of "falsehood", no matter how "happy", inevitably accrue interest over time. The final account might well be much greater than the two-thirds saved. That is

why he only went into action once he legally received the people's mandate, "no matter

what the consequence / To knaves and fools" [1488-89].

In this version of events, the Head-servant served his full term of office ("the proper term of years was our [1238]), did not enter into conflict with the Assembly ("did the

appointed service, and forbore / Extraneous action" [1345-46]), did not stage a coup d'etat ("Such fancy may have tempted to be false" [1286]), and assumed power and

restored order after receiving the nation's mandate:

he refused to break his oath, Rather appealed to the people, gained the power To act as he thought best, then used it.

[1485-87]

These claims, of course, with respect to Louis Napoleon's actions, are not historical: he

made his move before his presidency had ended; he was actively in conflict with the Assembly for most of those three years; he did stage a coup d'etat and instigated the

174

plebiscite after he was in control. What Louis Napoleon's presidency and the

Historian's account have in common is the setting in which these events took place: a

president in conflict with an Assembly in a period of social and political unrest.

It is true that Louis Napoleon and the Assembly were constantly in conflict. In 1848

the inexperienced and untried Louis Napoleon was seen as a compromise choice to

serve as a temporary measure to contain the bitter post-revolutionary political rivalries.

Even though he was known to be a favourite of the common people, the full extent of

his popularity came as a shock, and he was suddenly viewed as a major threat by the

politicians. After the elections, the political scene was much like a "squabble", a

constant power struggle among the different factions within the Assembly, and

between the Assembly and the government. The Assembly, if not in total disarray, was

far from a functioning unit. Less than a year into his presidency Louis Napoleon

announced: "scarcely had the dangers of the street been got over when the old parties

were seen again to elevate their colours, revive their rivalries, and alarm the country by

disseminating disquietude. "7 Even his enemies admitted that "interminable intrigues,

driveling disputes, petty plots, and contemptible conspiracies, abounded" .8 As early as

January 1849 The Times editorial discussed the antagonism between the president and

Assembly and the very real possibility of a coup d'etat 9 Few people believed the

Republic would last long enough to have a second president. EBB, though a self-

confessed republican, sensed that the people, tired of uncertainty and upheavals,

preferred a return to Empire or Monarchy: "I believe in France, but not in the French

Republic. "10 There were constant rumours that the Red Republicans would forcibly set

up a commune; or the monarchists would restore a son of Louis Philippe's. Louis

Napoleon, himself, was under the greatest suspicion. Weeks before the coup d'etat EBB

was wondering, "is he or is he not an ambitious man? Does he or does he not, mean in

his soul to be Napoleon the second? Yes, yes .. I think - you think - we all think. "11

7 31 October 1849, AR (1849), p. 271. "A peine les dangers de la rue dtaient-ils passes, qu'on a vu les anciens partis relever leurs drapeaux, rbveiller leurs rivalites, et alarmer le pays en semant 1'inquietude", Oeuvres, III, p. 112. 8PFIW, I, p. 120. 9 29 January 1849, pp. 4-5. 1015 April 1848,30 January 1849, Mitford, III, p. 235, p. 266. 1112 November 1851, Mitford, III, p. 335.

175

Whatever Louis Napoleon's real intentions, he was always careful to remind his

audience of his commitment to the Republic. Four months into the presidency The

Times correspondent wrote:

The views of personal ambition attributed to the President of the Republic by his enemies.. . are, I have reason to believe, most unfounded ... I believe that the oath he has taken of fidelity to the Republic, so long as the Republic exists, were sincerely uttered, and that he will take no step of himself to effect a change of Government in his own favour. 12

Like the Head-servant Louis Napoleon, for a short while, also tried a policy of non- interference-probably due to his lack of experience in government. He claimed that in

an attempt to maintain stability and promote a democratic mentality he had tried to

accommodate and consider views different from his own. When he dismissed his

cabinet in October 1849 (and appointed one loyal to himself) he told the Assembly:

For almost a year I have given enough evidence of selflessness for no one to misconstrue my true intentions. Without rancour against any individual or party, I have allowed the elevation of men of very differing opinions to mine, but without obtaining the happy results which I expected from this joining. Instead of implementing a fusion of slightly differing views, I obtained nothing but a neutralization of forces.

But he remembered to remind them: "I wish to merit the confidence of the people by

maintaining the Constitution to which I have sworn. "13 In 1850 he again reminded them that "if the constitution contains vices and damages, you are all at liberty to point them out to the country. I alone, bound by my oath -I confine myself within the strict limits which that constitution has laid down for me. " And that the first duty of the

authorities is

12 4 April 1849, p. 6. 13 ý, Depuis bientot un an, j'ai donne asset de preuves d'abnegation pour qu'on ne se meprenne pas sur mes veritables intentions. Sans rancune contre aucune individualite, comme contre aucun parti, j'ai laisse arriver aux affaires les hommes d'opinions les plus diverses, mais sans obtenir les heureux resultats que j'attendais de ce rapprochment. Au lieu d'operer une fusion de nuances, je n'ai obtenu qu'une neutralisation de forces,.

. Je veux etre digne de la confiance de la nation en maintenant la Constitution que j'ai juree", 31 October 1849, Oeuvres, III, pp. 111-13.

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to inspire the people with respect for law, by never deviating from it themselves... The noblest object, and the most worthy of an exalted mind, is not to seek when in power to perpetuate it, but to labour inseparably to fortify, for the benefit of all, those principles of authority and morality which defy the fashions of mankind and the instability of laws. 14

He even claimed, after the coup d'etat, that given his level of support in the 1848

elections, his refusal of the Constitution could have given him the throne. But he "was

not seduced by an elevation which would have necessarily produced serious

disturbances" 15

Louis Napoleon, in fact, followed Sagacity's advice, both by frustrating "villany in

the egg" [1457] to some extent, and prescribing "pill and potion" before "death i' the

body politic" [1465,1464]. The socialist factions were viewed by everyone - the

government, the liberals, the conservatives, the clerics -as the main obstacles to peace,

order, and safety. The conservative-dominated Assembly was worried by the socialists'

popularity among the city workers; the middle classes feared the Red Republicans'

extremism and condemnation of private ownership. The Republicans had no doubts

about Louis Napoleon's allegiance and viewed him as an enemy. EBB recounts a type

of incident which occurred frequently: "We met him on the boulevards... in a cocked hat & retinue of cavalry, driving like lightning, but not too fast to escape a yell from one

or two of the Reds, who were forthwith taken up & muzzled. "16 The government used

every opportunity to suppress socialists' activities. A common method of preventing

and ending strikes, for example, was to seize the funds which were to provide for the

workers during their unemployment. 17 When socialist deputies condemned the French

attack on the Roman Republic and called for the President' s impeachment, they gave

Louis Napoleon an excuse to close down their organs and clubs. He then announced in

a proclamation to the people that for the last six months he had calmly suffered the

socialists' insults, slanders, and provocation. Their aim was to gain control of the

Assembly. He denounced them as the most implacable enemies of the Republic who,

14 Presidential Message on the opening of the National Assembly. The Times, 14 November, pp. 2-3. 15 "phi, en 1848, lorsque 6 millions de suffrages me nommbrent en depit de la Constituante, je n'ignorais pas que le simple refus d'acquiescer ä la Constitution pouvait me donner un tr6ne. Mais une 61evation qui devait necessairement entratner de graves d6sordres ne me seduisit pas", 29 March 1852, Oeuvres, III, p. 324. 16 9 July 1851, Milford, 1II, p. 325.

177

because of their subversive activities, have forced France to change into a vast barracks,

but now it was time for the good to feel reassured and the wicked to tremble 18 In the

ensuing disturbances prominent members like Proudhon were imprisoned and Ledru-

Rollin, the leader of the Red Republicans, was forced to flee the country-19 The tension between the president and the Assembly soon found a focus in the

issue of the voting franchise, leading on to much political manoeuvering and mutual

condemnation. The moderate socialists and the Red Republicans were causing much

alarm among the conservative factions by their popularity and success in the by-

elections. The purpose of the law of 31 May 1850 ("Dock, by the million, of its friendly

joints, / The electoral body") was to weaken the socialist factions by disenfranchising

their supporters. The right to vote was based on duration of employment or stay at a

specific residence. By increasing the minimum time limit (from six months to three

years) the Assembly aimed (successfully) to exclude many of the workers who were

mostly peasants moving from city to city in search of work and had strong socialist

sympathies. This was a legal way of bypassing the Republic's constitutional right of

universal suffrage. Louis Napoleon was popular among the lower classes and liked to

pose as their protector, but the immediate purpose of the law was not aimed directly at

the president as the poem implies. If the law, by a happy coincidence, affected any of

the president's supporters, all the better. 20

Louis Napoleon used this opportunity to depict an Assembly with dictatorial

pretensions. Even though he was just as wary of the socialists, he acted as if he was forced to sanction the law against his personal and better principles. He began his

attack on the Assembly by introducing the subject of the revision of the constitution. In

order to stand for immediate re-election he had to change the Constitutional stipulation

that a candidate had to wait four year before he could run for office again. The

Assembly was not well disposed to any ideas which would extend the president's

power, and Louis Napoleon resorted to publicity to achieve his aim. Throughout the

spring and summer of 1851 he and his agents campaigned unsuccessfully for the

17 See The Times, 27 August 1850, p. 6; 4 October 1850, p. 6. 18 "lls m'accusent d'avoir viole la Constitution, moi qui ai supporte depuis six mois, sans en titre emu, leur injures, leurs calomnies, leurs provocations. La majorite de 1'Assemblee est le but de leurs outrages ... 11 est temps que les bons se rassurent et que les mechants tremblent. La R6publique n'a pas d'ennemis plus implacables que ces hommes qui, perp6tuant le desordre, nous forcent de changer la France en un vaste camp", 13 June 1849, Oeuvres, III, pp. 83-84. 19 The Times, 11 May 1849, p. 6; 13 June 1849, p. 6; Dryer, p. 648. 20 Greenwood, pp. 124-25. Jerrold, III, pp. 122-26.

178

revision of the constitution. On 1 June at Dijon he "threw down a gauntlet of defiance

to the Legislative Assembly' . 21 He accused the Assembly of being out of touch with the

views and concerns of the nation, and, by their intrigues, of preventing him from the

performance of his duties as president.

As the date of the end of the presidency (May 1852) drew closer tension began to

build up. In September Louis Napoleon let it be known that "if stormy days should

appear and that the people should want to impose a new burden onto the head of the

Government, this head, in his turn, would be very culpable were he to desert this high

mission" 22 The following month EBB wrote:

People say that the troops which pass before our windows every few days through the 'Arc de 1'Etoile' to be reviewed, will bring the president back with them as "emperor" some sunny morning not far off. As to waiting till May, nobody expects it. There is great inward agitation, but the surface of things is smooth enough. 23

By the end of November confrontation seemed inevitable. On the fourth (the last

Presidential Message before the coup d'etat) Louis Napoleon had made his last appeal

to the Assembly, warning them of the dangers to France from the existence of secret

societies and a "vast demagogical conspiracy" of European proportions planning to

seize power in 1852.24 He had asked the Assembly to vote for the abrogation of the law

of 31 May and the restoration of universal suffrage. Only in this manner fears about the

future which were harming the country could be allayed. The disenfranchisement of

three million voters, he accused, had allowed anarchic factions to increase their

influence; only by reinstating universal suffrage - the sole method of discovering the

national will -could they truly defend against these dangers and restore confidence? -5

21 pHW, I, p. 124. For a step by step account of the events leading to the coup d'etat see pp. 124- 46. 22 "De meme, si des jours orageux devaient reparaltre et que le peuple voulßt imposer un nouveau fardeau au chef du Gouvernement, ce chef, ä son tour, serait bien coupable de deserter cette haute mission", Speech at Caen, 4 September 1851, Oeuvres, III, p. 153. 23 22 October 1851, Mitfvrd, lII, p. 331. 24 "Une vast conspiration d6magogique s'organise en France et en Europe", Oeuvres, III, p. 222. The Times, 6 November 1851, p. 6. The Times (26 November 1851, p. 5; 27 November 1851, p. 6) quotes various French newspapers on the subject. 25 "Le retablissement du suffrage universel sur sa base principale donne une chance de plus d'obtenir la revision de la constitution ... Ce sera fournir ä la France la possibilite de se donner des institutions qui assurent son repos", Oeuvres, III, pp. 263-65. EBB was thinking of the government's continual suppression of the socialist factions when she wrote, "he must be very

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On the ninth, he made a patriotic speech to the newly arrived officers from Africa ("I

march, follow me")7-6 which terrified the Assembly into proposing an assignment of a

military force for their own protection against the president. The possibility of a coup

d'etat was no longer in doubt; it was merely a question of when and by whom. 27

Ironically, Louis Napoleon felt obliged to fulfil his duty to "guard and guide" [1455]

the country by breaking his oath. On the 2 December, the morning of the coup d'etat,

Paris found his "Appeal to the People" plastered across the city.

Frenchmen! The present situation cannot last much longer. Each day that passes worsens the dangers to the country. The Assembly, which should have been the most firm support of order, is become a centre of plots... Instead of framing laws for the general interest, it forges arms for civil war. It attempts at the power which I hold directly from the people; it encourages all evil passions; it compromises the peace of France: I have dissolved it, and I pronounce the people the judge between it and me... I make, then, a loyal appeal to the entire nation... give me the means to accomplish the grand mission which I hold from you. 28

sure of his hold on the people to propose repealing the May edict", 12 November 1851, Mitford, III, p. 334. 26 ["Si jamais le jour du danger arrivait, je ne ferais pas comme les gouvernements qui m'ont precede, et je ne vous dirais pas: Marchez, je vows suis; mais je vous dirais: ] Je marche, suivez- moi! " Oeuvres, III, p. 266. 27 De Tocqueville described the situation thus: "Some of your friends will tell you that in a week the Assembly will declare itself in danger; appoint a guard of 40,000 men, under the command of one of its members, and use it to take the President to Vincennes. Others will assure you that the news which you may expect every morning is, that during the night the Palais National has been occupied by the troops; that the walls are covered with placards, declaring the Assembly dissolved; and that all the leading members of the majority are arrested or concealed. And I will not venture to predict that neither of these events, or, at least, that no event similar to one of them, will occur. " De Tocqueville, II, pp. 136-37. After the coup d'etat many members of the Assembly were to vehemently deny the existence of conspiracy on their part. De Tocqueville wrote to The Times (11 December 1851, p. 5) stating the Assembly's case. Thiers always insisted that there was no conspiracy and that the proposal for armed forces were only "the sword for self-defence" [1374]. See Grarille, VI, pp. 451-52; Malmesbury, I, p. 259. 28 "La situation actuelle ne peat durer plus longtemps. Chaque jour qui s'ecoule aggrave les dangers du pays. L'Assemblde, qui devait etre le plus ferme appui de fordre, est devenue un foyer de complots ... Au lieu de faire des lois dans 1'interet general, elle forge des armes pour la guerre civile; eile attente au pouvoir que je tiens directement du peuple; elle encourage toutes les mauvaises passions; eile compromet le repos de la France: je 1'ai dissoute, et je rends le peuple entier juge entre eile et moi... Je fais donc un appel loyal ä la nation tout entiere... donnez-moi les moyens d'accomplir la grande mission que je dens de vous", Oeuvres, 111, pp. 271-73. The Times, 3 December 1851, p. S.

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By acting before the supposed "demagogical" conspiracies (set to emerge at the end of

his term in 1852) and plots of the Assembly could reach fruition, was he able to "save

society". Several days later he announced that "the troubles are quelled. Whatever be

the decision of the people, society is saved... But as long as the country has not spoken, I

shall not shrink from any effort, from any sacrifice to foil the attempts of the

insurgents. "

The decision of the people was to confirm his action by voting to extend his term of

office by ten more years. The official estimates were that out of eight million votes cast,

over seven million were in his favour. By far the most prevalent rationalization of the

coup d'etat among contemporary accounts was that Louis Napoleon broke his oath, but

saved society. The nation faced the threat of political disorder and revolution which

could not be met by the Assembly. After the coup d'etat he told the new Assembly:

You remember, gentlemen, that only some months ago, the more I limited myself to the strict circle of my functions, the more was it attempted to confine me, in order to deprive me of movement and of action. Often discouraged, I avow, I thought of abandoning an authority that was so disputed. What prevented me was, that I foresaw the occurrence of one thing - anarchy 30

If the president broke the rules, he was forgiven and justified by the subsequent vote of

the people. In his own words, his action was legally wrong, but morally right. On

being presented with the results of the plebiscite, he replied:

France has responded to the honest appeal which I had made to her. She has understood that I bypassed the law only in order to re-enter in the right. More than seven million votes absolve me by justifying an act which had no other purpose but to spare our country, and perhaps Europe, years of trouble and misfortune. 31

29 "Les troubles sont apaises. Quelle que soit la decision du peuple, Is socid* est sauvee... Mais tant que la nation n'aura pas parl&, je ne reculerai devant aucun effort, devant aucun sacrifice pour d6jouer les tentatives des factieux", Oeuvres, Ill, p. 280. 30 The Times, 31 March 1852, p. 6. "11 ya quelques mois ä peine, vous vous en souvenez, plus je m enfermais dann le cercle 6troit de mes attributions, plus on s'efforcait de le retrecir encore, afin de m'8ter le mouvement et faction. D6courag6 souvent, je 1'avoue, f eus is pensee d'abandonner un pouvoir ainsi dispute. Ce qui me retint, c'est que je ne voyais pour me succeder qu'une chose: 1'anarchie", 29 March 1852, Oeuvres, III, p. 319. 31 ""La France a repondu ä rappel loyal que je lui avail fait. Elle a compris que je n'6tais sorti de la legalite que pour rentrer dann le droit. Plus de sept millions de suffrages viennent de m'absoudre en justifiant un acte qui n'avait d'autre but que d'6pargner ä notre partie, et ä

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European governments, who feared a socialist France, and, to their mind, a return to the

days of the French Revolution, were content with the outcome. In effect, the title of

president was merely to keep up appearances. The decrees that followed (and were

validated by the plebiscite), based on the need to continue protecting society, gave him

dictatorial powers. The following year, the appeal for the return of the Empire was

similarly successful, and on 2 December 1852 he was declared Napoleon III, Emperor of

the French.

The Prince aims to refute the accusations against Louis Napoleon of breaking his

oath to the Republic, and the bloodshed that followed the coup d'etat. There were

many accounts at the time describing scenes of violence and the indiscriminate shooting

of people, but while accounts of the fighting differ depending on the writers'

sympathies, most agreed that the coup d'etat and the suppression of the demonstrators

was expertly planned and efficiently executed. In other words, by acting efficiently and

frustrating "villany in the egg", he was able to restore order "With easy stamp and

minimum of pang" [1457-58]. EBB'S praise for Louis Napoleon's "consummate ability

and courage" was by no means a lone voice. On the day after the coup d'etat Greville

wrote in his journal:

everybody expected it would happen, nobody that it would happen so soon ... The success of Louis Napoleon's Coup d'Etat has been complete, and his audacity and unscrupulousness marvellous ... The Press in this country has generally inveighed with great indignation against him, very much overdoing the case ... He prepared all that he has done with singular boldness, secrecy, adroitness, and success... and in all probability has prevented a great amount of disorder and bloodshed, which would have taken place if his success had been less complete than it was 32

rEurope peut-&tre, des annees de troubles et de malheurs", 31 December 1851, Oeuvres, III, p. 282. The Times, 3 January 1852, p. 6. 32 Greville, VI, pp. 428-30. Similarly from a letter to the Sun: "It is true that Lord Palmerston confessed himself not prepared to approve of the way the coup d'etat was affected, but he could hardly be prepared to condemn it; for decision, and even severity, under such painful circumstances was humanity, checking a resistance which could only have ended in a greater loss of life, and perhaps ripened from an erneute [sic] to a civil war. The subsequent acts of Prince Louis Napoleon were necessary to secure the order he had restored: to call them cruel is not only unjust, it is silly; it is as if a man with a mortified leg that required amputating, went to his doctor, and then called him a brute for cutting it off. " Charles W. Smith [Professor of Elocution], Letters Published in the "Sun" Justifying the Coup d'Etat of the Second of December and Condemning the Uncalled-For Attack Upon the Policy of the Emperor Napoleon III. (Richardson, 1853), pp. 4-5.

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Browning's friend, James Jarves (quoting from the official report of the Minister of War)

wrote that on that Thursday according to plan "the troops were withdrawn, and the

insurgents were allowed to build their barricades unmolested, that the insurrection

might come to a head and be extinguished at one blow" 33 While fighting continued in

parts of the country for a while longer, it had ended in Paris by the fourth. The

Brownings were out in the city on the sixth and went driving "down the boulevards to

see the field of action". According to EBB all was tranquil, the shops and theatres were

open and every day life was back to normal. She urged Anna Jameson not to miss these

exciting times and to visit Paris: "Robert says that according to the impression of the

wisest there can be no danger. Don't wait till after the elections. "34

The Prince chooses not to argue the question of the illegality of Louis Napoleon's

action. The results of the plebiscite and the acknowledgment of foreign governments

had justified Louis Napoleon's breaking of his oath-for all practical purposes. EBB

echoed Louis Napoleon's own words, and the sentiments of the majority, when she

wrote:

With no particular faith in the purity of his patriotism, I yet hold him justified so far, that is, I hold that a pure patriot would be perfectly justifiable in taking the same steps which up to this moment he has taken. He has broken, certainly, the husk of an oath, but fidelity to the intention of it seems to me reconcilable with the breach. 36

The Prince wants to justify the oath-breaking based on the issue of the fatalities of the

coup d'etat-the real visible and immediate price that was paid for his saving of

society. 6 Paradoxically, the number of fatalities of the coup d'etat was used both for

Louis Napoleon's support and condemnation. The Prince defends himself by alluding

to the number of lives saved by his action - albeit indirectly-confirming the view of his

supporters and countering the criticism of his detractors. The Prince implies that, given

33 Jmves, Parisian Sights, p. 239. 34 10 December 1851, Kenyon, II, p. 34. 35 To Julia Martin, 11 December 1851, Kenyon, II, p. 35. 36 In 1868, following a partial relaxation of the press laws, the editor of the opposition paper, Le Siede published a book on the coup d'etat, attempting "an impartial relating of the facts within censorship laws". He was allowed to write of the arrests and exiles of political enemies, of the stifling of the press and opposition voices, and quoted the estimated number of casualties of the barricades. The estimate from the official organ of the government, Le Moniteur, was 380; The Times had put the figure at 1200. Eugene Tent, Paris in December, 1851, or, The Coup d'Etat of

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the inevitable crisis, by breaking his oath and not acting like the Head-servant, he has

reduced casualties by two-thirds. The Head-servant's wisdom dictates differently.

The Roman Republic [1513-1596]

Apart from the coup d'etat, the major event of Louis Napoleon's presidency was the

French suppression of the Roman Republic. In November 1848 the Pope's chief

minister, Count Rossi, had been assassinated and the Pope himself had fled to Gaeta.

By February 1849, after some rioting and fighting, a republic was declared in Rome with

Mazzini as its main leader. From Gaeta, Pope Pius DC had asked Catholic powers for

assistance in his restoration. 37 Rightfully fearful of Austrian and Neapolitan

intervention, Rome expected solidarity and diplomatic support from their fellow

republic. The previous year, Lamartine, one of the leaders of the provisional

government, had issued a manifesto expressing French solidarity with all republics.

The language of the manifesto, reported The Times, was such that it was "susceptible of

being considered by the people and rulers of foreign states, an invitation to the former

to revolt and to extort concessions from the latter, or possibly to carry them the whole

length of revolution, and that France would not suffer them to be molested in that

course". Lamartine did explain during the Roman crisis that "it did not follow from

those passages that France was obliged to make everywhere common cause with all

revolutionists ... or enter into alliance with every nation who thought proper to call itself

republican". 38 Still, the fifth article of the French constitution did specify the firm belief

of the French people that "Each people rules itself / Its own way, not as any stranger

Napoleon III, trans. by S. W. Adams and A. H. Brandon (Sampson Low, 1870), pp. 310-12, p. 338, pp. 214-15. 37 , The Holy father, having exhausted all means at his command, is constrained, by the obligation laid upon him in the face of the whole Catholic world, to preserve unbroken the patrimony of the Church and the Sovereignty thereto annexed.. . to loudly call for aid from all powers, but especially from the closest 'daughters of the Church' Austria, France, Spain, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. " Read by Cardinal Antonelli to the whole diplomatic body at Gaeta. Quoted in Luigi C. Farin, The Roman State from 1815 to 1850, trans. by William E. Gladstone, 4 vols (John Murray, 1851-54), hereafter Farini, III, pp. 279-81. Farini (1812-1866), physician, historian, statesman, was one of the leading proponents of Italian nationalism. A carbonaro veteran, he travelled Europe as private physician to Jerome Bonaparte, served for short periods in both the Papal and republican governments of Rome, after which he became a deputy in Turin in 1849, supporting Cavour and d'Azelio. In 1859 he became the Dictator of Modena (after assuring Louis Napoleon that Rome would not be annexed) and established a league of the central Italian duchies which voted for annexation to Sardinia. 38 The Times, 7 March 1848, p. 5. AR (1849), p. 231.

184

please" [1528-29]). 39 The army which France sent to Italy, however, instead of

preventing outside interference in Roman affairs, itself ended up attacking Rome,

suppressing the Republic, and restoring the Pope. When Louis Napoleon authorized

the expedition, EBB expressed the surprise of many when she wondered about "the aim

& end of his French republicans in going to Rome to extinguish the republic there".

After the fall of the Republic, her verdict was: "the Rome business has been miserably

managed-this is the great blot on the character of his government. "40 The suppression

of the Roman Republic is the second issue the Prince deals with.

The historian is also disgusted by France's treatment of the Roman Republic. He

describes how the country - which had just recently become a republic - chose, for its

first act, to

fasten on the throat Of the first neighbour that claimed benefit O' the law herself established: "Hohenstiel For Hohenstielers! Rome, by parity Of reasoning, for Romans? That's a jest Wants proper treatment, - lancet puncture suits The proud flesh: Rome ape Hohenstiel forsooth! "

[1531-37]

He blames the country not just for the betrayal of a fellow republic, but also for the

ensuing loss of life, for which, he is sure, there will be a price to pay:

And so the siege and slaughter and success Whereof we nothing doubt that Hohenstiel Will have to pay the price, in God's good time.

[1538-40]

This was the state of things when the Head-servant took control and established peace

and order: "He found this infamy triumphant" [1543]: Rome occupied, the Republic

suppressed, and (by implication) the Papal regime restored to power. The Head-

servant shares the Historian's sentiments. For him also the situation in Rome is a "devil's-graft on God's foundation-stone" [1521]. Sagacity now proceeds to point out the way the Head-servant should confront the situation.

39 The Times, 31 August 1848, p. 6; 13 June 1849, p. 6. 40 30 April 1849,31 August 1849, Mitford, III, p. 268, p. 277.

185

The best option is to do nothing; maintain the status quo and keep Rome occupied.

The Head-servant should justify his position by denying responsibility for the

suppression in the first place:

The work was none of mine: suppose wrong wait, Stand over for redressing? Mine for me, My predecessors' work on their own head!

[1545-47]

Keeping Rome occupied will maintain order and establish the necessary French power

and influence in a region known for its shifting alliances:

Meantime, there's plain advantage, should we leave Things as we find them. Keep Rome manacled Hand and foot no fear of unruliness! Her foes consent to even seem our friends So long, no longer.

[1548-521

Furthermore, this exertion of authority will bring glory to the country by enhancing its

reputation for "boldness and bravado" [1553] which the "disconcerted world must grin

and bear" [1554].

The Head-servant refuses such selfish passivity despite the cries that "the world

would tumble in / At its four corners" [1524-25] if he interfered. He knows that the

best thing for Rome is for it to be set on a proper course and allowed to prosper in the

right environment. He ends the occupation and restores the Roman Republic: "the

canker! Out it came, / Root and branch, with much roaring, and some blood" [1562-

63]. He acts this way because he knows that "nursing canker kills the sick / For certain,

while to cut may cure, at least" [1568-69]. The Historian tells that he was proved right

in his diagnosis since, once the Republic had been restored, "Nature... assuaged / The

pain and set the patient on his legs" [1565-66]. As in the case of the uprisings where by

allowing for the development of a small evil he had prevented the insidious growth of a far larger one, the temporary pain caused by operating on the canker is insignificant

compared to the patient's recovery.

Restoring the Roman Republic by force was the second option. While beneficial to

Rome, the other result of this action was that no obvious advantage and no glory was brought to his own glory-loving country; instead, there was "plentiful abuse of him

186

from friend / And foe" [1564-65]. Sagacity now explains how the Head-servant should

have achieved his aim and avoided the "plentiful abuse". Sagacity does not quarrel

with the Head-servant's policy, nor does he reproach him for the loss of the practical

advantages and benefits to the country; but he does much regret the Head-servant's

approach. He thinks that the Head-servant should have been patient and have waited

much longer before resorting to force. One should not be "Rash, rude, even when in the

right, as here! " [1573]. He groans in exasperation:

The great mind knows the power of gentleness, Only tries force because persuasion fails. Had this man, by prelusive trumpet-blast, Signified "Truth and Justice mean to come, Nay, fast approach your threshold! Ere they knock, See that the house be set in order, swept And garnished, windows shut, and doors thrown wide! The free State comes to visit the free Church: Receive her! Or. or.. never mind what else! " Thus moral suasion heralding brute force.

[1574-83]

A ruler, by virtue of his "great mind" should implement the art of diplomacy and use

only when "persuasion fails". Instead of rushing to attack, even if in the right, the

Head-servant should have first consolidated the source of his mandate and power.

Sagacity is implying what every elected leader knows: that it is not enough to act

rightfully; one has to let the voting electorate know that one is doing so. The Head-

servant should have solicited "Public opinion" [1588] by loudly proclaiming himself as

representing "Truth and Justice" and about to pay a visit. This "moral suasion

heralding brute force" would have both announced the propriety of his policy and

forced Rome to sort out its own problems in view of armed occupation as alternative.

In this manner the Head: servant could have used force, if necessary, without losing the

support of public opinion. If only he had done as Sagacity's suggests he would have

countered his critics and "seen the old abuses die" [1584].

The Head-servant is not affected by the attitude of men or the lure of political gain; he is guided by an higher law:

And by the light he saw, must walk: how else Was he to do his part? A man's, with might And main, and not a faintest touch of fear, Sure he was in the hand of God who comes

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Before and after, with a work to do Which no man helps nor hinders.

[1508-13]

The Head-servant's moral certainty is matched by zealous efficiency. His previous

response to the uprising had shown that, when he believes himself right, he does not

care for "the consequences" [1488]. He tells Sagacity that no matter how long he waited

before taking action there would have been no agreement between the parties.

When all to see, after some twenty years, Were your own fool-face waiting for the sight, Faced by as wide a grin from ear to ear O' the knaves that, while the fools were waiting, worked - Broke yet another generation's heart- Twenty years' respite helping!

[1589-94]

Only a fool would believe that knaves can be persuaded by words and argument. All

he would be left with would be the sight of his "own fool-face" and the satisfied "grin"

of the knaves who would use the "Twenty years' respite" to work their evil and break

"yet another generation's heart". In view of the rightness of his belief, he has nothing

but contempt for Sagacity. He counters Sagacity's plea for diplomacy with, "Teach your

nurse / 'Compliance with, before you suck, the teat! "' [1594-95]. The allusion is to

Hamlet's comment on Osric and his shallow words, that even at his mother's breast

Osric still observed the niceties and mannerisms (compliance) of the court 41 In other

words, "Sagacity, keep your diplomatic language and don't you tell me how to act". If

something is vital, the Head-servant will do it; he does not waste time or allow himself

to be affected by public opinion.

Louis Napoleon, of course, as president of the French Republic, authorized the

occupation of Rome, supported the Pope, and kept him in power until the fall of the

Second Empire. Louis Napoleon could, to a certain extent, claim that "The work was

none of mine", because the full responsibility for the expedition to Rome belonged to

the French Assembly. He could not have sanctioned or funded the expedition without

41 "He did comply with his dug before he sucked it. Thus has he, and many more of the same bevy that I know the drossy age dotes on, only got the tune of the time and outward habit of encounter; a kind of yeasty collection, which carries them through and through the most fond and winnowed opinions; and do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out", [V. 2.195- 202].

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the support of the Assembly which was dominated by conservatives 42 In the early

stages of his presidency, he yet had to establish his authority on the executive. His

dismissal of his first cabinet so soon after the announcement of his personal disappointment in the outcome in Rome was intended to shift the blame. He was also known, given his previous record, to be personally against Papal temporality.

The troubles in Rome caused much debate in the Assembly on whether France

should reinstate the Pope. When the socialists pointed out the hypocrisy and illegality

inherent in any action against a fellow republic, Montalembert's reply was very much, "Rome ape Hohenstiel forsooth! " [1537]. He wondered how they could compare "our

brave army with the military rabble of Rome", or "the National Assembly of France

with that Assembly on the steps of which the murder of M. Rossi was perpetrated, and

which, nevertheless, continued undisturbedly to read its minutes? "43 The same view

was expressed by EBB few months later. She would not be at all surprised, given her

first-hand knowledge of the revolution in Florence, if the republic in Rome was

similarly one "without a public -imposed by a few bawlers & brawlers on many mutes

and cowards". 44 (The following month, however, she qualified that "if a republic in

earnest is established there, Louis Napoleon should not try to set his foot on it". )45 Louis

Napoleon took the same line to justify the French attack on Rome. In the Presidential

Message to the Assembly he stressed that the movement in Rome was nothing but "acts

of aggression" viewed by Europe "to be rather a conspiracy than the movement of a

people". 46 He had to claim that Rome was not a true republic and lacked the sanction

42 The following resolution was adopted by a majority of 444 to 329: "The Assembly declares, that if the better to guarantee the integrity of the Piedmontese territory, and to protect the interests and honour of France, the Executive Power should think proper to support its negotiations by a partial and temporary occupation of Italy, the National Assembly would grant it its entire co-operation", AR (1849), pp. 238-39. 43 The Times, 2 December 1848, p. 6. See AR (1848), p. 330, for account of Rossi's murder. 44 30 April 1849, Mitford, III, p. 268. 45 To Julia Martin, 14 May 1849, Kenyon, I, p. 406. 4' AR (1849), p. 254. Contemporary accounts, however, show that the Papacy was extremely unpopular among its subjects. The French minister at Rome reported that on the first day of the revolution "the civic guard, the Gendarmerie, the Line, and the Roman Legion, to the number of some thousands, in uniform, with a military band at their head, placed themselves in order of battle on the open space in front of the Quirinal, and joined the people, who yet remained there, and commenced, like them, to fire at the windows of the Palace", AR (1848), p. 331. See also AR (1849), p. 292.

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of the people. "Our arms have overthrown at Rome that turbulent demagogy... which

compromised the cause of true liberty. "47

The declaration of a republic in Rome had put France in an awkward position. As

the leader of a Catholic nation Louis Napoleon could neither recognize the Roman

Republic, nor ignore the plight of the Pope; as the ruler of France he could not allow the

danger of having any other nation increase its influence in the region; and, for the sake

of his role as the representative of order, he could not take a merely supporting role in

dealing with the issue. By March 1849, Austria had defeated Charles Albert and its

army was about to march on Rome. At the end, Louis Napoleon was forced to order a

French expedition. In his Presidential Message he listed his options and informed the

Assembly that the government had decided to "exercise direct and independent

action". " He, therefore, had to have considered the advantages of a French-occupied

Rome which Sagacity had initially spelled out for the Head-servant.

The French tried to present themselves, not as foreign invaders, but liberators and

protectors of the Roman people. The French commander, General Oudinot, assured the

Romans that he had "come to consolidate order and liberty". At the same time, the

President of the Council, Odilon Barrot, explained to the Assembly that the object of

"our Italian enterprise" was

to place a weight in the balance in which were weighed the destinies of Italy, to secure to the Roman people the conditions of good government and just liberty; conditions which would have been impaired by reaction or by foreign intervention... to obtain this double object, it was necessary to occupy a strong position in the Roman States 49

The French government hoped that since Catholic powers would not tolerate the Pope's

exile, the Romans would realize that their best chance was to be under French

protection. 50 The Republicans, however, would not consider the possibility of the

return of the Pope, and refused the French entry into the city. When Rome eventually

47 AR (1850), p. 226. "Nos armes ont renvers6 ä Rome cette demagogie turbulente qui... avait compromis la cause de la vraie libertt", Message to the Assembly, 12 November 1850, Oeuvres, III, p. 190-91. 48 'Exercer de notre propre mouvement une action directe et independante", 7 June 1849, Oeuvres, III, p. 74. 49 AR (1849), p. 302. Farini, III, p. 79.

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fell in early July 1849, Louis Napoleon soon realized that the Pope was as intractable as

the Republic had been about reaching a compromise and would not agree to a

Constitutional Papacy or any reduction in his powers. Louis Napoleon had realized

that France could now neither force liberal measures on the Pope, nor try or threaten to

abandon him; the Pope's reactionary rule would have to be reluctantly maintained by

French troops, to the outrage of republicans everywhere and the "grin from ear to ear /

0' the knaves". The Papacy was well aware of the trap Louis Napoleon had fallen into:

when introducing the new measures, the Pope's plenipotentiaries failed to make any

acknowledgment of the French efforts on their behalf. 51

There is little doubt that the ultimate task of the French forces was the occupation of

Rome, and the responsibility for that lies with Louis Napoleon. Many wondered at his

decision that the command be given to Oudinot who was known to be a Legitimist,

with little sympathy for republicans 52 Having already divulged his allegiance by his

treatment of the Red Republicans, it was not surprising for Louis Napoleon to seek

conservative support. In the end he had to make a practical and political decision He

had to weigh the risks of antagonizing the republicans and upholding the Pope's

reactionary regime, against the prestige of being the defender of the Pope and the

advantages of having control over central Italy 53 Forced by circumstances to act, Louis

Napoleon had to choose between the probable practical advantages (as pointed out by

Sagacity), and the possibility of diplomatic or military defeat by another impending

protector of the Pope. Announcing the expedition to Italy, the president of the council,

Odilon Barrot told the Assembly that, since Austrian victory over Sardinia, France

cannot remain indifferent to the "imminent crisis" in Rome. "The protection of our

countrymen, the necessity to maintain our legitimate influence in Italy, and the desire of

contributing to obtain for the Roman population a good Government, founded on

liberal institutions (murmurs on the left), impose upon us the duty to use the

50"La simple raison devait faire croire qu'il en 6tait ainsi, car, entre notre intervention et celle des

autres Puissances, le choix ne pouvait pas etre douteux", 7 June 1849, Oeuvres, p. 75. 51 The Times, 7 September 1849, p. 6. 52 Nassau W. Senior, Journals Kept in France & Italy From 1848 to 1852, ed. by M. C. Simpson, 2 vols (King, 1871), I, p. 121. Louis Napoleon had the support of Catholic Europe as well as Britain. A decade later David Masson, the editor of Macmillan's Magazine reminded his readers "that in 1849 our ambassador in Paris was instructed to state to the French Government, then fitting out the expedition to Rome, that the object of that expedition-the restoration of the Pope to the sovereignty from which his own subjects had deposed him -was also the desire of her Britannic Majesty's Government. " Masson, Politics of the Present, p. 7. W Message to the Assembly, 12 November 1850, Oeuvres, III, p. 191.

191

authorization you have granted us. "M Louis Napoleon had to emphasize that non-

intervention was not an option: "we could oppose by force of arms every intervention,

and, in that case, antagonize all Catholic Europe for the sole benefit of the Roman

Republic, which we have not recognized. "55 Once the fighting was done, the

government could publicize the praise of conservatives and Catholics, and advertise the

prestige and glory gained for the nation. One should not forget that the concepts of

honour and glory had tremendous emotional effect on the French mentality. Odilon

Barrot defended the occupation of Rome simply by pointing out that after the initial

setback, retreat would have been unthinkable: "the order to occupy Rome was given

under the influence of the most imperious necessity-that of honour. " The foreign

secretary, Alexis de Tocqueville, was proud that "the French army now were masters of

Rome, and beyond any doubt occupied a most lofty position in the minds of the world"

(which "must grin and bear") 56

If Louis Napoleon had acted like the Head-servant, he would have solved the

problem of Rome after his coup d'Etat when he was in full control. Instead he followed

the advice of Sagacity and proved the truth of the Head-servant's prediction. The first

indication of Sagacity's threat that "The free State comes to visit the free Church: /

Receive her! or .. or .. never mind what else! " was the pamphlet, L'Empereur Napoleon

III. et l'Italie (1859). Sold out in a matter of days, the pamphlet explained that the only

possible solution to the troubles in the peninsula was for Austria to give up its Italian

territories, the Pope his temporal power, and for the various states in Italy to be

reformed and joined into a confederation. Despite the pamphlet's reasonable and

reverent tone, its contents clearly marked it as an unofficial declaration of war against

Austria. The Times reported that it was viewed by most people as "a formal

manifestation of the Imperial Government-that is of the Emperor. It is looked upon as

a menace to Austria, and everyone asks how Austria will reply, and whether Sardinia

will consider it as a signal to begin. " The correspondent was certain that Louis

Napoleon "had furnished the materials, supplied arguments, composed several of the

passages, and corrected the whole, down to the very last moment of publication". EBB

54 16 April 1849, AR (1849), p. 239. 55 "Nous opposer par les armes ä toute espece d'intervention, et, en ce cas, nous rompions avec toute 1'Europe catholique pour le seul interet de la rtpublique romaine, que noun n'avions pas reconnue", 7 June 1849, Oeuvres, III, pp. 73-74. 5611 June 1849,14 August 1849, AR (1849), p. 258, p. 267.

192

certainly had no doubt of the authorship and added that "the sensation among the

priestly party is profound". 57

The war with Austria failed to unite Italy or solve the problem of Rome. Louis

Napoleon tried again with the pamphlet The Pope and the Congress in which it was

argued that the Pope cannot be both priest and prince. The best solution was for the

Pope to become the spiritual head of a federated Italy 58 In his Christmas greetings to

the Pope Louis Napoleon tried to persuade the Pope to give up his temporal power and

accept a much reduced patrimony by arguing that Italian unification is both just and

inevitable.

"Facts have an inexorable logic, and, despite my devotion to the holy see, despite the presence of my troops at Rome, I could not avoid a certain solidarity with the results of the national movement caused in Italy by the struggle against Austria. 59

He tried again in 1864. The Convention of 15 September stated that French troops

would evacuate Rome as long as the Kingdom of Italy would guarantee the Pope's

safety. 60 The respite was short-lived, as Garibaldi immediately marched on Rome and France was forced to resume its position. Thus, up to the very moment of his soliloquy,

the Prince has been trying unsuccessfully the power of "persuasion" to settle the

problem in Rome.

57 The Times, 7 February 1859, p. 8. (For an almost full text of the pamphlet see 5 February, pp. 9- 10. For commentary see 4 February, p. 10; and the Athenaeum, 12 February 1859, p. 220. ) 15 February 1859, Dearest Isa, p. 34. The mid-century was the golden age of pamphlets. "In France the pamphleteer plays as important a part as the diplomatist. He is an ambassador at home, and his pamphlets are the means by which he sounds the public mind", Spender, Fall of the Second Empire, p. 33. 58 The Pope and the Congress (Jeffs, 1859). The Times, 22 December 1859, p. 5. The Times saw a parallel with "the pamphlet 'Napoleon M. et 1'Italie' which heralded only too faithfully the late war. The same ominous pen is now employed to foreshadow for us the coming fate of the Popedom" (p. 6). 59 12 January 1860, The Times, p. 9. Oeuvres, V, p. 101. 60 On the 1241, the French Foreign Minister had written to the French Ambassador in Rome stating that "the French in Rome had long been a source of the greatest 'preoccupations' of the Emperor; and that he has always stated that it were not to be permanent", Spender, The Kingdom of Italy, pp. 470-71.

193

--^1ý .

,. ý'ý. - . -f ý, ýý

BRENNUS-BONAPARTE, OR TILE GAUL AGAIN IN ROME.

"Your role is to put in all treaties your sword of Brennus on the side of civilization" [Oeuvres, I, pp. 26-27]. Punch, December 1867.

Savoy and Nice [1597-1908]

The result of French intervention in the Italian peninsula and its support for Italian

nationalism was confrontation with Austria: "Whereof the war came which he knew

must be" [1597]. This transition allows the Prince to apply the Head-servant's sense of

propriety to the issue of war-an important issue, since Louis Napoleon had justified

the restoration of an imperial regime as the means to peace and prosperity. The Prince

194

intends to use the topic to lead up to Louis Napoleons annexation of Savoy and Nice

following the war with Austria for the liberation of northern Italy. Unlike the

suppression of the Roman Republic, which had the tacit approval of most of Europe,

Louis Napoleon's annexation was planned in secrecy and achieved through trickery

and lost him the trust of Britain, gained since their alliance in the Crimean War. Before

Louis Napoleon had been "a tried ally; not a faithful ally merely of fine phrases and

specious assurances, but one who has proved in the most trying fortunes that we could

depend upon his constancy"61 High praise coming from Disraeli, given the Tories'

general antagonism towards France. In 1860 John Russell announced unequivocally

that henceforth Britain had to look elsewhere for allies 62 The Annual Register recorded

that "Europe felt indignant at having been duped by the professions of

disinterestedness with which the French Emperor had inaugurated the campaign in

Italy, when he, in the most emphatic manner, disclaimed all intention of territorial

aggrandizement" 63

Before mentioning the annexation the Prince describes how he countered natural

French belligerence and improved the standards of society. He also achieved this

through trickery; but as the Prince explains the trick, he is playing another. Apart from

the advantage of listing his contributions to society's improvement, once he convinces

the audience that this trick which "seemed a venial fault at most" [1648] is justifiable,

they might remove the blame of the annexation which, after all, was to the nation's

benefit. The two tricks, as it were, are related. Louis Napoleon needed tangible

evidence to support the imperial propaganda and rhetoric, and to justify the regime's

existence. To satisfy public opinion he depended on visible signs of national prosperity

and a prestigious foreign policy. And there is no better evidence of a successful foreign

policy than territory.

The historian describes the difficulty facing the Head-servant because of the

nations inherent warmongering tendencies and love of glory:

Now, this had proved the dry-rot of the race He ruled o'er, that, in the old day, when was need They fought for their own liberty and life, Well did they fight, none better: whence, such life

61 Hansard, 148 (1857-58), p. 1055. 62 Spender, Kingdom of Italy, p. 456. 63 AR (1860), pp. 213-14.

195

Of fighting somehow still for fighting's sake Against no matter whose the liberty And life, so long as self-conceit should crow And clap the wing, while justice sheathed her claw, - That what had been the glory of the world When thereby came the world's good, grew its plague Now that the champion-armour, donned to dare The dragon once, was clattered up and down Highway and by-path of the world at peace, Merely to mask marauding, or for sake O' the shine and rattle that apprized the fields Hohenstiel-Schwangau was a fighter yet.

[1597-1613]

The taste for war was fostered in the days when the people began to fight "for their own

liberty and life", advocating universal rights and freedom. The nobility of their cause

also contributed to the world's "Glory" and "good". But the fighting continued

unnecessarily, with the people "fighting somehow still for fighting's sake". With the

dragon gone, the knight had become a mere marauder. At the same time, the world

had changed in favour of peace. Fighting was "A peccant humour out of fashion now"

[1615], and the disconsolate nation, unaccustomed to and unhappy about the change,

was punished and warned to behave by the other nations: "Accordingly the world

spoke plain at last, / Promised to punish who next played with arms" [1616-17]. Still,

the country knew no pleasure greater than "the shine and rattle" of armour on the field,

and periodically needed to "show its strength is still superlative" [1643].

At the advent of the Head-servant the country's mood is a mixture of frustration

and satisfaction. It is grudgingly content with the period of "peacefulness" [1624]

forced upon it, but cannot help a "wistful eye reverting oft / To each pet weapon, rusty

on its peg" [1621-22]. The love of war, the "devil's-doctrine" [1646] is too far

embedded, like "dry-rot" [1627], in people's natures; peace is tolerated only as a period

necessary for "preparation for new war" [1633]. Sagacity's solution to ending war

seems ingenious. He suggests a cunning plan to prolong the period of peace "artfully"

[1652] by maintaining the appearance that the country is militarily strong and nurtures

its belligerent tendencies. While the people are content with the promise of war their

prosperity must be increased.

Quietly so increase the sweets of ease And safety, so employ the multitude, Put hod and trowel so in idle hands,

196

So stuff and stop the wagging jaws with bread, That selfishness shall surreptitiously Do wisdoms office.

[1654-591

Punch, August 1860.

This policy will satisfy the national urge, protect the country from invasion, and, most

important of all, pave the way for real peace. With the rise in living standards, the

country will learn to satisfy its addiction to glory through competition and battles

fought in peacetime, by taking pride in its culture, industry, trade. Past glories and

future victories are to be experienced "in speech and prose and verse" [1666]. "We fight

/ Now -by forbidding neighbours to sell steel / Or buy wine, not by blowing out their

brains! " [1722-241.64 By this benevolent trick he can "let time sap the strength / 0' the

64 "Yes, it is too true. Government have carried their reduction of the wine duties, and the trade in British beer and British brandy therefore dies. While we write, the French invasion of cheap wines has begun. Their light clarets are trooping to supplant our 'heavy wet. ' Thin Bordeaux is coming to knock down our bottled stout... ", Punch, 10 March 1860, p. 95.

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197

walls omnipotent in menace once" [1725-26]. Before his tactic is discovered, there will

have been an end to the "dry-rot", an end to the "devil's-doctrine". The bonus of this

plan is the ironic revenge taken on the nations who had punished the country. In

response to the apparent resurgence of military spirit, the country's "loud tradition"

[1753], other nations will have been building up their military strength for self-defence.

They will have "Run up defences in a mushroom-growth, / For all the world like what

we boasted" [1728-29]. They will be the losers in practical and moral terms: they will

have not only wasted their assets and energies but will also appear the aggressors. In

short, concludes Sagacity, the country's "policy is peace" [1730].

France's reputation for aggression and annexation in modern history dated back to

the long wars of Louis X1V when, because of its greater size and population, it could

field armies to match coalitions of other powers. With the French Revolution ("the old day, when was need" [1599]) and the successes of the revolutionary armies, France, now

wearing the mantle of the enemy of tyranny and the exporter of liberty, attained a

justification for war and love of glory. Glorious war was personified in Napoleon, the

chosen of the nation and the defender of nationalities. On his return from exile, in his

first message to the army, he reminded his soldiers that "the imperial throne can alone

guarantee the rights of the people; and above all, the first of our interests, -that of past

glory". His every victory was a drug administered to a nation addicted to the "glorious

labours" and "honours" promised in his oratory. But the Napoleonic wars soon became

wars of conquest, the libertarian rhetoric there "Merely to mask marauding" [1611].

The French had turned from being liberators to "masters of nations". 0 In 1815

Napoleon was finally defeated and the Great Powers at Vienna took measures to

maintain a balance of power in Europe and contain France's potential for war: "the

weary world.. . spoke plain at last, / Promised to punish who next played with fire"

[1614-17].

Be that as it might, from 1815 to 1848, during the Bourbon Restoration and the July

Monarchy, France had fought in Spain, Greece, and (north) Africa; it had maintained an

army along the Spanish border (in view of the Carlist troubles), invaded Belgium, and

come very close to starting a European war by its middle eastern policy ("peace we only tolerate/ As needful preparation for new war" [1632-33]). Many attributed the fall of the July Monarchy to Louis Philip's apparent timidity and the regime's unimpressive

6' Historical Memoirs of Napoleon, Book IX. 1815, trans. by Barry E. O'Meara (Richard Phillips, 1820), p. 231, pp. 237-38.

198

foreign policy. Lamartine had expressed the mood of the country in 1847 with his

famous "la France s'ennuie! "66 Patrick Dove (the inventor of the rifled cannon) echoed

the same sentiment in relation to Louis Napoleon's Italian campaign: that since the

Algerian war had lost its romance with the fall of the Emir, "France must have

something new" 67 The country was Europe's problem child; the French were viewed

as often brilliant but volatile. France was "discontented and impetuous by nature",

wrote Farini. In the Commons, Disraeli called them "ingenious but irritable people";

Palmerston, "the most warlike on earth". John Russell reminded the members that "a

nation so warlike as the French" was bound "to call upon its government from time to

time" to commit "acts of aggression". Louis Napoleon certainly took note of this

natural trait. Less than a week before war was declared against Austria, Merimee

confessed to Panizzi:

We are a funny nation! I wrote to you a fortnight ago that there was only one man in France who was anxious for war [the Emperor], and I think I told you the truth.

The contrary holds true today. The Gallic instinct is awakened. Now we have enthusiasm in its alarming as well as its magnificent aspect. The people accept the war gleefully, and are in the highest spirits and brimful of confidence. 68

EBB observed that "a French soldier and French citizen are the same thing". France's

Minister of War proudly announced to the Assembly that the military spirit, "was the

foundation of the greatness of France". Achille Foulds, reporting on the financial state

of the country, asked the Assembly:

66 John Wilson, "Prevost-Paradol and Napoleon III", Quarterly Review, 129, (1870), 369-92 (p. 373). The British ambassador wrote to Lord Clarendon, "it is the unalterable belief of the Emperor "that the Bourbons and Orleans fell because they allowed France "to drop in the scale of Nations.. . he is determined to maintain the position of France as a first rate Power ... that to ensure her being respected, she must have an Army able to compete with Europe combined", Cowley, p. 239. 67 "The Rifle Corps Movement and National Defences", MM, 1 (1859-60), hereafter Dove, 81-88 (p. 82). The large majority of the population, needless to say, were not at all affected by boredom and were quite happy with peace and stability. Louis Napoleon's success is proof of that. 68 29 April 1859, Panizzi, I, p. 39. The general tone of the French popular press was that France would be dishonoured if a single Austrian was left in Italy", Napoleon III. in Italy [By an English Liberal] (Wine Office Court, 1859), p. 14. The Times explained that "Frenchmen of the present generation, although by no means insensible to the advantages of wealth, grew up, under the teaching of Beranger and Thiers, in the belief that military glory was better than justice, than freedom, and even better than material prosperity", 31 December 1859, p. 6.

199

Which Power, in fact, has always been the first ready to enter a campaign? History tells us it is France. The warlike propensities of the nation, its love of glory, confidence in the chief it has elected, are a sure guarantee. Our country has never been deaf to the first shout of war, and has always surprised its enemies by the rapidity of its

armaments and the sudden and irresistible explosion of its energy. The Emperor has not forgotten the immense enthusiasm which accompanied his departure for Italy 69

In his famous speech at Bordeaux announcing the return of the Empire, Louis

Napoleon assured his audience that his battles will not be against nations, but against

the troubles of the country. Glory can indeed be acquired by virtue of one's heritage,

but not by war ("la gloire se 18gue bien ä titre d'heritage, mais non la guerre"). He

spelled out his intentions to improve the conditions of the country.

We have immense uncultivated territories to reclaim, routes to open, ports to clear, rivers to render navigable, canals to finish, our network of railroads to complete... In a word, we have everywhere ruins to rebuild, false gods to cut down, and truths to make triumphant.

This is how I understand the Empire, if the Empire is to be

established. Such are the conquests which I contemplate, and you all who surround me, who want, like me, the good of our country, you are my soldiers 70

The wealth and splendour associated with the Second Empire to a large extent was

the result of reaping the benefits of the Industrial Revolution and a post-(Napoleonic)-

war European economic growth which had gained momentum in the 1840s and 1850s.

In 1871 Walter Bagehot pointed out that despite the extravagance and "prodigality of

the Government", the Second Empire coincided with "the greatest economical

prosperity which France had ever seen". The railway system developed with a rapidity

far greater than in the time of Louis Philippe; agriculture thrived and commerce grew

with unknown celerity. n A great deal of credit for the wealth of the country and the

rise in the standard of living was given to the Emperor who, according to the ILN,

69 To Anna Jameson, 10 December 1851, Kenyon, II, p. 33. AR (1867), p. 241. AR (1861), p. 180. 70 "Nous avons d'immenses territoires incultes ä d4fricher, des routes ä ouvrir, des ports ä creuser, des rivieres ä rendre navigables, des canaux it terminer, notre reseau de chemins de fer ä

completer... Nous avons partout enfin des ruines a relever, de faux dieux ä abattre, des v@rites ä faire triompher. VoilA comment je comprendrais 1'Empire, si 1'Empire doit se r4tablir. Teiles sont les conqu4tes que je m4dite, et vous tous qui m'entourez, qui voulez, comme moi, le bien de noire patrie, vous etes mes soldats", Oeuvres, III, p. 344. 71 Walter Bagehot, "Senior's Journals", FR, n. s. 10 (1871), 156-65 (p. 164).

200

"directed social activity to works of substantial profit; encouraged trade, the arts,

manufactures, agriculture, freedom of industrial commerce; decorated the city of Paris,

and enlarged the provincial towns; made it easier to cross the land by railways, and the

sea by steam-ships" 72

The Prince makes a point of emphasizing the national character to such an extent in

order to highlight the scope of the achievement of turning a nation of warriors into

apparently cultured citizens enjoying the benefits of his reign. Increasing "the sweets of

ease" [1654] involved government subsidy of the basic necessities like flour, and

extensive funding of commercial, agricultural, financial, and industrial enterprise.

Money-making and -spending were vigorously encouraged and the rise in the number

of credit establishments and joint-stock companies reflected the ever-growing passion

for Bourse speculations-73 What was now needed was a suitable setting for such

activities, and Paris became the showcase of the Empire, its splendour reflecting the

glory of the regime. Extensive rebuilding, cosmetic restorations of facades and roads,

improvements in lighting and sanitation turned Paris into the most attractive place in

Europe. 74 The large number of new hotels and the marvellous entertainment industry

ensured and catered to the ever-growing tourism of the enriched bourgeoisie of the

mid-nineteenth century. The claim for the improved city was that it provided and

attracted the best society had to offer. The new Louvre Hotel (1855) had its own

guidebook and claimed that the dining room with its "fairy-like illumination by gas"

represented the height of European civilization:

In order to delight the eye, there are painted on the ceiling and on the panels, the most charming scenes and the most exciting symbols of the Heathen mythology, and other appropriate subjects. In this place, from six to eight q' clock [sic] in the evening, the table, decked with flowers, loaded with bottles and crystal of every form and colour, inundated with floods of light, and covered with those numerous trifles which serve to sharpen the appetite, or to satisfy it, is surrounded by guests of whom it may be said "Behold the elite of society of the world. "75

72 6 May 1871, p. 444. 73 The Times, 24 November 1853, p. 6; 30 December 1853, p. 7; 10 November 1856, p. 8; 20 August 1857, p. 10. Ebenezer C. Brewer, The Political, Social, and Literary History of France (Jarrold, 1863), hereafter Brewer, History of France, pp. 426-27. 74 A Handbook For Visitors to Paris (John Murray, 1867), p. 48, p. 231. 75 Stranger's Guide to Grand Hotel du Louvre (Paris: Gaittet, 1858), p. 3. EBB praises the beauties of Paris in Aurora Leigh [VI, 78-96].

201

The autocratic regime provided safety; construction and enterprise provided

employment; bread was cheap; financial activities were much encouraged. Who would

think of war, revolution, or press laws when busy planning the evening's

entertainment? There was certainly a silent collusion between the ruler and the ruled.

The middle classes for the most part, tired of revolutions, were relieved by the coup

d'etat. James Jarves sadly, but truthfully, wrote that twelve hours after the coup d'etat

"the bourgeoisie exclaimed 't'est bien fait! ' and were ready to go on with their

amusements"76 The Emperor's motto was that "the more a country is rich and

prosperous, the more it contributes to the wealth and prosperity of others". 77

Despite the ever growing prosperity of France, to some in Britain a French invasion

was always a possibility 78 They found it difficult to believe that France could forgive

Waterloo. Their fears were not allayed by Louis Napoleon's military rhetoric, nor by

the enlargement of his armed forces. His speech to the returning army of Crimea held

ominous connotations for the future. He told the soldiers that each one of them could

take his share of glory in war, "and for the country, which supports six hundred

thousand soldiers, it is in the interest of France to maintain a numerous and seasoned

army, ready to go where there is need". 79 Despite Anglo-French alliance in the Crimea

and the Orient, despite the warmest of friendships between the royal and imperial

families, it was still difficult to completely trust a Bonaparte. The victorious war with Austria caused such alarm that Louis Napoleon instructed his ambassador to assure Palmerston that he had no belligerent intentions:

76 Jaes, Parisian Sights, p. 232. 77 "Plus un pays est riche et prospere, plus il contribue a la richesse et ä la prosperite des autres", Oeuvres, V, p. 119. 78 "You can't crush France, and if you compel her to make peace on disadvantageous terms, you necessitate another war as soon as she regains health and strength. The after effects of war are very little thought of. It seemed a fine thing for the English and the Cossacks to be in Paris in 1815. But it has kept this country in a perpetual fear of invasion from France since 1830, really meditated in 1842 (I think) and only prevented as I believe ten years ago by Louis Napoleon. A war to restore the oppressed nationality of Ireland was at that time a favourite French idea. In that matter and in the French treaty he has served us against the wishes of the French nation", Jowett to R. B. D. Morier, 16 August 1870, Jawett, Letters, p. 65. 79 "Chacun pourra ainsi aller prendre sa part de gloire, et le pays, qui entretient six cent mille soldats, a int6rPt ä ce qu'il y ait maintenant en France une armee nombreuse et aguerrie, prete ä se porter oü le besoin 1'exige", 29 December 1855, Oeuvres, III, p. 432.

202

It will be objected, "You wish for peace, and you increase, immoderately, the military forces of France. " I deny the fact in every sense. My army and my fleet have in them nothing of a threatening

character. My steam navy is even far from being adequate to our requirements, and the number of steamers does not nearly equal that

of sailing ships deemed necessary in the times of Louis Philippe. I have 400,000 men under arms; but deduct from this amount 60,000 in Algeria, 6000 at Rome, 8000 in China, 20,000 gendarmes... Moreover,

while wishing for peace, I desire also to organize the forces of the

country on the best possible footing.

Seventeen years earlier he had written an essay entitled "Peace", sagaciously explaining

exactly what is meant by "best possible footing": "To consolidate peace.. . one must give

foreigners a high idea of the good faith and of the strength of France, proving at the

same time by acts that she has no desire for conquest. "81 Palmerston who until the

annexation of Savoy and Nice had supported Louis Napoleon, had lost his trust. He

passed a "Fortification Bill" in 1860 and, in a speech, on the heights of Dover, the

following year confirmed his policy of caution:

We accept with frankness the right hand of friendship wherever it is tendered to us. We do not distrust that proffered right hand because

we see the left hand grasping the hilt of the sword. But when that left hand plainly does so grasp the hilt of the sword, it would be extreme folly in us to throw away our shield of defence 82

It should be kept in mind that the politicians were not beyond deliberately encouraging

a sense of imminent danger in order to pass a larger budget or demanding greater

80 Letter to Persigny, 25 July 1860, AR (1860), p. 225. Cf. MBrimee to Panizzi: "that absurdly nonsensical idea that France is meditating an invasion of England because at her naval stations the troops are being taught to embark and disembark without confusion. It certainly seems to

me-considering that, within the space of two years, we have had to disembark 150,000 men in Italy, 12,000 in China, and 6,000 in Syria, to say nothing of the fact that the most important of our Colonies, Algeria, has an army of 50,000 men who can only communicate with France by sea - considering all this, I say, it certainly seems to me that to teach our soldiers how to get in and out of a steamer must be a lesson of some utility to them", 6 October 1860, Panizzi, I, pp. 124-45. 81 PHW, II, p. 215. "Pour asseoir solidement la paix ... il

faut donner ä 1'6tranger une grande id6e de la bonne foi et de la force de la France, tout en prouvant par les faits qu'elle n'a aucune velldit6 de conqu6tes", Oeuvres, II, p. 44. 82 Quoted in Richard Cobden, The Political Writings of Richard Cobden, 2 vole (William Ridgway, 1867), hereafter Cobden, II, p. 416. Cobden had already traced the history of the threat of French invasion and its effect on British policy in 1793 and 1853 in Three Letters (Gash, 1853), specifically pp. 62-87. Palmerston was especially angry because he believed Louis Napoleon had timed the

ratification of the commercial treaty to coincide with the annexation of Savoy and Nice, in order to suggest British compliance (or impotence). See Hansard, 160 (1860), pp. 571-77.

203

powers for the Cabinet. There was an element of farce about the whole affair. After the

Commons received the "Report of the Commission on Fortifications", Admiral Charles

Napier expressed the hope that the French will wait three years before invading: this

will give the government time to build the fortifications, after hanging the

commissioners for revealing all the weaknesses and the best landing spots along the

British coast. 83

Among the liberals Palmerston's view was shared by a minority. In Britain the

need for an increase in armaments and national defences had its most visible advocates

among the Tories and The Times newspaper; they had distrusted Louis Napoleon ever

since the coup d'etat. In 1860 Louis Napoleon possessed the strongest army in the

world and a navy as large as the English. The Times warned that Britain had to increase

its defences: "We know that he has a certain mission to execute, and the star that guides

him still glitters in the heavens. What further duties are involved in that

comprehensive 'mission, ' and how far the 'star' may lead him, no one, not even himself

may know. "84 EBB found this view preposterous. In "A Tale of Villafranca" (stanza

vii) she had Louis Napoleon sarcastically justify the British response:

A great Deed in this world of ours? Unheard of the pretence is:

It threatens plainly the great Powers; Is fatal in all senses.

A just deed in the world? -call out The rifles! be not slack about

The national defences.

One result of this view, as Sagacity rightly predicted, was the "mushroom growth"

of arms which was seen as one of the major legacies of the Second Empire. Cassell's

Illustrated History wrote in 1871:

It was taken for granted that, with a Bonaparte at the head of affairs, France would again become the most aggressive Power on the Continent. The event proved that this was an idle fear; for, of the only two European Wars of the Second Empire, previous to the final

83 Cobden, II, p. 337-38, p. 421. Hansard, 160 (1860), p. 546. See also Dove, p. 83, for an ironic treatment of the "military men" who want to enlarge the armed forces. Much amusement was also caused by the letter of three Liverpudlian merchants who, worried about their investments and business, wrote to Louis Napoleon for a straight answer as to his invasion intentions. See "How We Came to Write to the Emperor", Punch, 17 December 1859, p. 243. 84 1 July 1859, p. 9.

204

contest-the first had for its object the restraining of Russian ambition and the maintenance of the status quo, while the second was directed towards the emancipation of a grand historic race from a barbarian thralldom which had long outraged the moral sense of the world. Yet it is certain that the election of the Prince President to a ten years' dictatorship, and his subsequent elevation to the Imperial dignity,

excited in the principal European Governments (including even our own) a sense of apprehension, resulting in the enormous armaments to which we are now accustomed 85

In Britain fear of France led to the creation of the English "Rifle Corps" which was

viewed with much embarrassed amusement by liberal minded people 86 The

Athenaeum reported that "the Prime Minister and the poet Laureate have this week

inaugurated the system of voluntary national defence, -Lord Derby having given his

consent for the foundation of Rifle Corps, and Mr. Tennyson has sent out a martial

invitation to his country men to enroll themselves in the force". Tennyson wrote much

inspirational doggerel celebrating national defence. One such was "The War", quoted

by the Athenaeum:

True, that we have a faithful ally, But only the Devil knows what he means.

Form! form! Riflemen form! Ready, be ready to meet the storm! Riflemen, riflemen, riflemen form!

[24-28]87

Part of Louis Napoleon's solution to the mounting tension was to force through,

along with Richard Cobden, against the sentiments of both peoples, despite the

objections of the powerful protectionist groups, a trade treaty between Britain and

France. 88 Richard Cobden, "the Apostle of Free Trade", the enemy of the corn laws,

had for years advocated free trade treaties as a means of preventing hostilities. The

85 Cassell, II, preface, p. 1. 8' EBB to Fanny Haworth (1 February 1861, Checklist, p. 322): "[Sir John Bowring] said that

nothing could be more ludicrous and fanatical than the volunteer movement in England rising out of the most incredible panic which ever arose without a reason", Kenyon, II, p 410. For a more sympathetic view of the British panic see Letters From Owen Meredith to Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ed. by Aurelia B. Harlan and J. Lee Harlan, Jr (Waco: Baylor University, 1937), p. 167. 87 14 May 1859, p. 649-50. For EBB's reaction see Kenyon, II, p. 412. Tennyson had also published verses criticizing Louis Napoleon's coup d'dtat. 88 Ever since the first attempt at reducing trade restrictions between the two countries in 1776

caused an economic crash in France, paving the way for the Revolution, there was much reluctance to repeat the experience. See AR (1776), pp. 268-73.

205

basic argument of free-traders was that people and nations who are busy increasing

their wealth would be reluctant to damage their situation by supporting thoughts of

war. "Men think twice before they cut the throats of those who are perpetually engaged

in filling their coffers. "89 The Mercantilism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

aimed directly at national growth and wealth at the expense of other rival nations. The

system aimed at preserving and improving national industries by a strict control of

prices and wages, and functioned by promoting import of raw material and export of

finished goods from and to the colonies (which were forbidden to trade with any but

the mother country). The Free-trade argument claimed two basic advantages in

allowing the import of foreign finished goods if they could be obtained cheaper than the

domestic product The lower price provided a better service for the customer and, by

removing the pressures of competition (for the same products), it allowed domestic

industries to concentrate on improving home-grown products. (If several countries

were competing for the same product, it would further lower prices and stimulate the

growth of the industry. )90 Naturally the growing dependence of the nations on each

other's products would discourage disruptive activities.. By introducing the concept of

the "most favoured country" and stipulating that any subsequent treaty with another

nation would automatically ensure the same conditions and benefits to the former

partner, free trade agreements would soon create a proliferation of trading partners

and, thus, a peaceful Europe. 91

89 Lord Hobart [Henry Vere], "The'Mission' of Richard Cobden", MM, 15 (1867), 177-86 (p. 182). See Cobden, II, p. 211, pp. 434-35. The French free traders held a similar view: according to Jules Simon commercial liberty "is an indispensable condition of peace; for so long as we continue to have an army of revenue officers on the frontier, the fraternity of nations will be impossible. But when peoples shall only be rival traders instead of enemies, I defy you to make them fight. By freedom of labour and commerce, will be founded the future of liberty, and all war will be at an end", AR (1870), pp. 131-2. For a more cautious point of view see Thomas E. Cliffe Leslie, "The Question of the Age-Is it Peace? ", MM, 2 (1860), 72-88 (pp. 79-88). 90 Lilian C. A. Knowles, Economic Development in the Nineteenth Century (Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1932), pp. 16-21, p. 107, pp. 144-47, pp. 246-251. `n See, for example, the treaty between Britain and Belgium (AR (1860), pp. 217-19), article III: "In all that relates to navigation and commerce, the High Contracting Parties shall not grant any privilege, favour, or immunity to any other country, which shall not be also and immediately extended to their respective subjects. " The treaty between France and Britain was signed in January 1860; printed in AR (1860), pp. 223-31. Free trade was a natural concept of the liberal mentality which held the tenet, "all restraint, quä restraint, is an evil". According to Mill, "it was once held to be the duty of governments, in all cases which were considered of importance, to fix prices and regulate the processes of manufacture. But it is now recognised, though not till after a long struggle, that both the cheapness and the good quality of commodities are most effectually provided for by leaving the producers and sellers perfectly free, under the sole check of equal freedom to the buyers for supplying themselves elsewhere. This is the so-called doctrine of Free

206

The list of (the Prince's) contributions does not impress the Head-servant, mainly because he knows they are based on trickery. As is to be expected by now, he does not

share the same values as Sagacity; he marches on the "other road" [1907]. As he

showed in the case of his oath to the people, and in his moral duty to the people of Rome, trickery and dishonesty, no matter how well-intended and beneficial, will

eventually, by their very nature, result in great harm. There is nothing wrong with the

desire for glory as long as its achievement is not based upon immoral methods. Even

war can be glorious if the cause is noble, as in the days when the nation fought for

"liberty against the world, and won" [1746]; otherwise glory is meaningless, "a gilded bubble" [1759]. He will not prevent war through distraction, through pampering, through the force of wealth and entertainment, but by teaching the nation of war's dangers. "War for war's sake ... is damnable and damned shall be" [1740-42].

Prosperity is never worth the people's "power and purity of soul" [1800] which any form of trickery will compromise. The simple truth is that policies which will result in

one's growth at the expense of others are harmful; they will eventually lead to isolation.

What glory is gained, asks the Head-servant,

By stinting of his due each neighbour round In strength and knowledge and dexterity So as to have thy littleness grow large By all those somethings, once, turned nothings, now, As children make a molehill mountainous By scooping out the plain into a trench And saving so their favourite from approach?

[1774-80]

And with isolation comes stagnation. Even "nmimetic warfare" [1782], in whatever form, is evil:

Trade, which rests on grounds different from, though equally solid with, the principle of individual liberty asserted in this Essay. " He added the necessity for some interference like preventative measures against "fraud by adulteration", controls on the sale of dangerous material and substances like poison or gunpowder, checks on adequate measures for workers' protection. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Parker, 1859), pp. 170-73. The treaty between Britain and France was not, by any means, a full free trade agreement whereby competition and demand would control price and production; it was merely a cautious first step towards such a market through some reduction of the protectionist duties. Advances in mass production and cheap railway transport allowed for the application of new market theories, and within a few years many European countries, to benefit from the same favourable conditions, did sign trade agreements.

207

Who thinks, - would he have no one think beside? Who knows, who does, -must other learning die And action perish? Why, our giant proves No better than a dwarf, with rivalry Prostrate around him.

[1785-891

The Head-servant will make the country great through the practice of honesty, by

keeping to the truth and making war only on wickedness-like "Austria's rule / O'er

Italy" [1877-78]. He will fight for moral, not material, gain, for "truth and right" [1865].

We purpose to get God enthroned again For what the world will gird at as sheer shame I' the cost of blood and treasure.

[1890-92]

He knows that "expenditure in coin o' the realm" [1901] and even citizens' lives is

not worth the fatal canker which a selfish, dishonest act will create. Having settled the

situation in Rome, he continues his battle against wickedness and frees Italy from

foreign rule. Louis Napoleon, like the Head-servant, claimed that he was not interested

in territorial gain. His war with Austria was to all appearance in accordance with the

Head-servant's sense of morality. In view of the misrule of Austria in Italy (which he

listed in detail to the Assembly) and the pathetic state of the Italians, he demanded the

liberation of northern Italy "in the name of the principles of humanity and of eternal

justice" 92 After the war, Palmerston, for one, completely exonerated him. He told the

Commons,

the Emperor took an early opportunity of declaring that the Empire meant peace -a declaration which was received with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction by the whole of Europe and which inspired confidence in the new policy which it was supposed he intended to pursue. I do not hold that in what took place last year in Italy there was any departure from that principle. France undertook a noble enterprise 93

It was the annexation of Savoy and Nice which punctured the balloon of the Emperor's

moral rhetoric and prestige.

92 7 February 1859, AR (1859), p. 201. His actual words were, "dann la voie du droit, de la justice", 8 February 1859, Oeuvres, V, p. 76.

208

The news of war was received with enthusiasm and joy by the Italians and their

sympathizers. EBB was "ready to kneel down & and kiss the Emperor's feet". 94 Louis

Napoleon had stressed that the war was the application of the Napoleonic concept of

nationalistic self-determination, and he had no ulterior motives apart from gaining

moral authority which he would use to further the cause of peace in Europe. The

Brownings' friend, Edward Dicey, described Louis Napoleon's action as "the first war

in the world's history in which a great nation risked its own greatness to make another

people free, and to redress wrongs which were not their own-'the war for an idea'-

was the commencement of a new era" 95 Announcing the declaration of war to the

people of France, Louis Napoleon claimed that he was not fighting for conquest, but

because Austria had attacked their Sardinian ally, menaced French borders, broken

treaties, caused chaos, and was guilty of injustice. 96 On his triumphant entry into Milan

after the battle of Magenta, he told a delirious crowd that he had not made war for

personal ambition or territorial gain, but to achieve greater moral influence for France

by joining such a great and just cause 97 EBB wrote to Sarianna, "we have two great

flags on our terrace, the French flag and the Italian. " Another eye-witness described the

effect of Louis Napoleon's promise on the Italians:

Wherever a detachment of the familiar blue-coated, red-trousered soldiery of France paraded, there would be a crowd of cheering Italians. Every house fluttered its two tricolours, - the red, white, and blue of France; the red, white, and green of Sardinia, -nay, of Italy; for had not the leader of the host sworn to free 'Italy from the Alps to the Adriatic, ' and had he not already chased the hated Tedeschi out of Lombardy to their fastness of the Quadrilateral? This waking dream of joy, this intoxication of a people newly endowed with liberty, alas! was but short-lived. 98

93 13 March 1860, Hansard, 157 (1860), p. 485. 94 15 February 1859, Dearest Isa, p. 34. 95 Edward Dicey, Cavour. A Memoir (Cambridge: Macmillan, 1861), hereafter Dicey, p. 180. `X' 3 May 1859, Oeuvres, V, pp. 78-80. `n "Vos ennemis, qui sont les miens, ont tense de diminuer la sympathie universelle qu'il y avait en Europe pour votre cause, en faisant croire que je ne faisais la guerre que par ambition personnelle, ou pour agrandir le territoire de la France ... Dans 1'@tat eclaire de 1'opinion publique, on est plus grand aujourd'hui par 1'influence morale qu'on exerce que par des conquetes steriles, et cette influence morale je la recherche avec orgueil en contribuant ä rendre libre une des plus belles parties de 1'Europe", 8 June 1859, Oeuvres, v, pp. 84-5. 98 (5 June 1859, Checklist, p. 277), Kenyon, II, p. 313. Spender, The Kingdom of Italy, p. 451.

209

eE

Punch, July 1859. FREE ITALY (1)

There were various reasons for the war with Austria. The assassination attempt, the

previous year, by Felice Orsini, in retaliation against French procrastination in the cause

of Italy, may have prompted Louis Napoleon to set up a meeting with Cavour. Since

revolutions in France had a tendency to travel, and the death of the Emperor would have caused another revolution, the constant danger of assassination by Italian patriots

was a real one. But, apart from self-protection, it is very probable that he also did have

genuine sympathy for the cause of Italian liberation, and not just as the heir of Napoleon. Many knew of his carbonaro past and the story of his expulsion from the

Papal States for carrying the tricolour through the streets of Rome. 99 His assistance

would certainly help lighten the stain of his treatment of the Roman Republic.

Politically, any change in the map of Europe, especially at Austria's expense, was

99 Memoirs of Queen Hortense, ed. by Lascelles Wraxall and Robert Wehrhan, 2 vols (Hurst and Blacked, 1862), hereafter Hortense, II, p. 206. Edward Spender, "Napoleon III. ", LQR, 40 (1873), 130-61 (p. 133). For the regime's reactionary nature see The Times, 11 April 1856, p. 10.

210

another blow against the 1815 treaties. The cause of Italy was extremely popular among

the people and would add immensely to popular support of the government. (Similar

sentiments among the British would ensure Britain's neutrality. ) And, of course, there

was military glory which always constituted a main support of a Napoleonic regime.

The Times astutely pointed out that Louis Napoleon had yet to produce his military

credentials, and Italy provided "the only available field for a single-handed conflict

with an isolated opponent' 100

There is little doubt that the annexation of Savoy and Nice had been planned

between Louis Napoleon and Cavour during their secret meeting at Plombiers in July

1858; it "admits of no doubt" said the Annual Register for 1860 [p. 213]. With the failure

to gain Venetia for Sardinia, and free Italy to the Adriatic, Louis Napoleon renounced

his claim. However, he resumed it in return for allowing the annexation of the central

Italian duchies that had voted to join with the new Kingdom of Italy. He explained in

an open letter to Persigny, "I had renounced Savoy and Nice; the extraordinary

additions to Sardinia alone caused me to resume the desire to see re-united to France

provinces essentially French. "101 After a favourable plebiscite in Savoy, Victor

Emmanuel gave his blessing and the two regions were annexed in April 1860.102 The

Great Powers which had confirmed the plebiscites of the central Italian duchies could

hardly raise too much objection. The territories controlled the passes into France across

and around the southern end of the Alps. The French argued that if a strong power

emerged in the north of the Italian peninsula, France must have control of Savoy and

Nice for the protection of its borders. The Emperor's justification, which came as no

100 31 December 1859, p. 6. 10125 July 1860, AR (1860), p. 225. 102 AR (1860), pp. 217-18. The king said that if the people of Savoy wished to join France, he had

no objection, which John Russell thought an "extraordinary thing to say", 16 March 1860, Hansard, 157 (1860), pp. 760-61. For John Russell's account of the history of the annexations see 13 March 1860, Hansard, 157 (1860), pp. 449-56; for Palmerston's refutation of Louis Napoleon's

arguments for the annexations see pp. 485-87. Edward Dicey, points out (Dicey, pp. 194-96) that unlike Savoy which was much more French than Italian in sentiment and language, Nice was a mixture of both cultures. He posits that Cavour, aware of the dependency of the new Kingdom of Italy on the friendship of the Imperial regime, viewed the loss of Nice as the price for both cementing the friendship with France and raising the prestige of the Emperor. (For an account of the high level of French investment in Italy in the 1860s see Rondo E. Cameron, France and the Economic Development of Europe, 1800-1914 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961), pp. 450- 51, pp. 456-57). Dicey (1832-1911) was a highly respected and influential journalist. He also wrote a short and good article on EBB's politics ("Elizabeth Barrett Browning", MM, 4 (1861), 402-04) which Isa Blagden thought safe enough to send to Browning (17 September 1861, Dearest Isa, p. 91).

211

surprise, was that "in view of this transformation of Northern Italy, which gives to a

powerful State all the passes of the Alps, it was my duty, for the security of our

frontiers, to claim the French slopes of the mountains"? 03 Sagacity's blunt view that it

is wise to show the people something of "marketable value" [1903] to compensate for

the loss of their loved ones and the rise in their taxes, is not what one would mention in

the official announcement.

The Head-servant does not annex Savoy and Nice. Presumably he also frees Italy

from "the Adriatic to the Alps", becoming a true arbiter of Europe, based on prestige,

moral authority, and trust, not only military power. Louis Napoleon chose "some snug

honorarium fee" [1894]. Browning's comment on the annexation, according to EBB,

was that Louis Napoleon had demeaned his "great action" by taking "eighteenpence for

it, which is a pity"? 04 When Sagacity wonders if it would not be wise to be

recompensed for the loss of life and money with territory, the Head-servant, realizing

that his arguments have had no effect, suggests (in a manner reminiscent of "Teach

your nurse") Sagacity should find employment in Austria where such advice is

appreciated: "go preach to Metternich" [1904].

Dynastic Ambitions [1909-2072]

The final part of the "exercise" covers Louis Napoleon's dynastic ambitions and the

issue of legitimacy. Sagacity's argument has two main points. The first is that heredity

is a true basis for succession. The second, that leaving the succession to chance is

unwise because it risks disruption to society. in setting forth the argument between

Sagacity and the Head-servant, the Historian alludes to two embarrassing points in

Louis Napoleon's career-his birth and marriage-and, appropriately, brings the

evening back to 1870, since one of the main reasons for the war with Prussia was dynastic.

By 1870 a new generation had matured which had little memory of the social fears

of the past, and for whom "saviour of society" had little significance. The government

was rapidly losing prestige, and visible signs of dissatisfaction among the poor and

103 "En presence de cetbe transformation de 1'Italie du Nord, qui donne ä un Etat puissant tous les passages des Alpes, it dtait de mon devoir, pour la sürete de nos frontiPres, de reclamer les

versants francais de montagnes", 1 March 1860, Oeuvres, V, p. 114. For John Russell's reaction to the Emperor's speech see (2 March 1860) Hansard, 156 (1860), pp. 2143-45. 104 To John Forster, May 1860, Kenyon, II, p. 385.

212

working classes were on the increase. Louis Napoleon needed a major international

success to ensure his son's succession. As is usually the case with despotic regimes,

internal dissatisfaction is generally countered by the prestige and the unifying nature of

military success. This was no secret to those who watched France from across the

channel.

It is not difficult to trace each war of Louis-Napoleon since 1854 to the necessity in which he found himself in the face of a beginning growth of Opposition at home. Each attempt at such a Liberal revival was drowned in gory gloire. The Russian, the Italian, the Mexican wars had all been preceded by popular or parliamentary agitations 1°5

But the view was that "a warlike diversion" was now out of the question; "doubly so,

since the long-discredited rumours about Louis-Napoleon's enfeebled health are at last

proved to have reposed on a serious fact "106 Defenders of the regime tried their

(amusing) best to shift the blame for the war from the Emperor.

It is alleged by some ignorant persons that the war was undertaken in the interest of the dynasty... Never before was the Emperor so free from anxiety as to the stability of his throne... and the only danger that could arise to his majesty was from a foreign war. It was most unquestionably to the interest of Napoleon not only to preserve peace, but to have a settlement of the peace of Europe made secure upon a firm basis. Unfortunately, it was the interest of the opposition to bring about war, and they did it. 107

This is propaganda. Even the ILN admitted that it was "the son for whom he dared all,

and lost all"? 08

The first requirement for a parvenu, representing a new system (universal suffrage),

heading a dynasty is to prove he is worthy. The Head-servant has proved through

"will and power" [1921] that the nation's faith in him was justified and he is the fittest

105 Karl Blind, "The Condition of France", FR, n. s. 6 (1869), hereafter Blind, 651-64 (p. 661). Cf. Dickens to W. W. Story: "France will involve us, I very much fear, in general War and Uproar. The adventurer on that throne has no chance but in the distraction of his people's minds, and in the jingle and glitter of theatrical glory", 1 August 1863, Storey, X, p. 278. 10' Blind, p. 662. 107 A4acdonald, pp. 7-8. 10 25 March 1871, p. 283. The person most eager for war, apart from Bismarck, was the obsessively anti Prussian French foreign minister Duke de Gramont, whom Browning had known in Rome (George Barrett, p. 261) and had met with again in London after the war ("had a long talk with Gramont the other day", 21 November 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 351, n. 6).

213

man to rule. Sagacity suggests firstly that to please the people and provide a visible

proof of his elevated station he should "out-king" [1927] all kings and have the most

royal court in the world (hence the pomp and extravagance of the Imperial court).

Secondly, in order to guarantee the survival and continuation of his great deeds for

society he should marry the most suitable woman and provide the country with an heir.

Otherwise "all done's undone" [1931]. Creating a dynasty is justified because genius is

hereditary and one's heir will be the same in "head and heart and eye and hand and

aim" [1930]. There may be problems finding a suitable mate. Sagacity explains that if

the woman chosen is of royal blood the Head-servant will present her to the people as

further confirmation of his worth:

tell Hohenstielers-Schwangauese "So do the old enthroned decrepitudes Acknowledge, in the rotten hearts of them, Their knell is knolled, they hasten to make peace With the knew order, recognize in me Your right to constitute what king you will, Cringe therefore crown in hand and bride on arm, To both of us : we triumph, I suppose! "

[1936-43]

If she is not royalty, then the Head-servant should play the populist card and turn the

occasion to his advantage by flattering the people:

I, the man O' the people, with the people mate myself: So stand, so fall. Kings, keep your crowns and brides! Our progeny (if Providence agree) Shall live to tread the baubles underfoot And bid the scarecrows consort with their kin.

[1946-511

Louis Napoleon's detractors would recall that in the early days of the Second

Empire the rulers of Europe regarded him contemptuously as an upstart, and

suspiciously as a warmongering Bonaparte; they were reluctant to provide a royal bride

for him. Even after his success, people still tended to recall his days as an revolutionary

adventurer with an uncertain future, an exile "whom the daughter of an English

country gentleman refused to marry as beneath her" 109 Empress Eugenie belonged to a

109 Brewer, History of France, p. 421.

214

Spanish family of minor nobility. When Louis Napoleon made his announcement of

marriage he made the best of the situation by benefiting from both of Sagacity's options.

He reminded his audience that the marriage of Napoleon with Marie-Louise was a great

event, a pledge for the future, a true satisfaction for the national pride "as one saw that

the ancient and illustrious house of Austria, which for such a long time had been at war

with us, solicited the alliance of the elected head of a new empire". He, however,

prefers to honour the people, to whom he is so indebted, by marrying from among

them. He will wear the title of upstart with pride because it shows that his success is

the result of the modem and better ideas of the age.

When, in the presence of old Europe, one is carried by the force of a new principle to the loftiness of ancient dynasties, it is not by aging one's coat of arms and by seeking to enter at all costs into a family of Kings, that one makes oneself accepted. It is rather by remembering always one's origins, by maintaining one's character and, face to face

with Europe, by boldly taking the position of parvenu, a glorious title

when achieved through the free suffrage of a great people 110

Louis Napoleon's difficulty was to find a compromise between the idea of

hereditary succession and the law of universal suffrage. The concept of an elected

emperor was both a strength and a weakness of his position. It gave a legal mandate to

his immense power; but, because he did not rule by divine right, it also made him

dependent on public opinion. He had to find a way to ensure that the people would

also confirm his son on the throne. It was not sufficient to make it an article of the

Imperial Constitution, because the Constitution itself depended on the survival of the

Empire. His solution was to represent his son as the symbolic heir of the French people

and the system they had voted for. In reply to the Senate's congratulations on the birth

of his son, he told them that Napoleon had created a system derived from the

110 ['III faut cependant le reconnaltre, en 1810, le mariage de Napoleon Ier avec Marie-Louise fut

un grand @venement c'etait un gage pour ravenir, une veritable satisfaction pour l'orgueil

national, ] puisqu'on voyait 1'antique et illustre maison d'Autriche, qui noun avait si longtemps fait la guerre, briguer 1'alliance du Chef Elu d'un nouvel Empire ... Quand, en face de la vieille Europe, on est porte par la force d'un nouveau principe ä la hauteur des anciennes dynasties, ce nest pas en viei hissant son blason et en cherchant a s'introduire a tout prix dans la famille des Rois, qu'on se fait accepter. Cest bien plut8t en se souvenant toujours de son origine, en conservant son caractere propre et en prenant franchement vis-ä-vis de 1'Europe la position de

parvenu, titre glorieux lorsqu'on parvient par le libre suffrage dun grand Peuple", 22 January 1853, Oeuvres, III, pp. 358-59.

215

Revolution and containing all that was great and elevated in the old regime. One of

these was the use of the term, "Child of France" :

When an heir is born destined to perpetuate a national system, this child is not just the offspring of one family, he is truly the son of the entire nation, and his name indicates his duties. If this was true under the ancient monarchies, which represented more exclusively the privileged classes, how much more reason today when the sovereign is the elect of the nation, the first citizen of the country and the representative of the interests of everyone 111

Like Sagacity, Louis Napoleon had declared that the protection of Providence implied

the justification of the Napoleonic system and the destiny of his son to continue that

tradition. It seemed as if the martyrdom and misfortunes that the family has suffered

during the past forty years, were Providence's way of strengthening and rejuvenating a

dynasty which had emerged from the ranks of the people. 112

Both the Historian and the Head-servant vehemently disagree with Sagacity's

views on the succession. The Historian states that the idea that genius is hereditary is

proved by experience to be a "Pernicious fancy" [1955]. Even if on occasion a father's

talent is manifest in the son, there is no logical explanation behind it. Nothing is more

certain than the fact that "God drops his seed of heavenly flame / Just where He wills

on earth" [1959-60]. It is just as possible that

The seed o' the apple-tree Brings forth another tree which bears a crab: 'T is the great gardener grafts the excellence On wildings where he will.

[1980-83]

111 "C'est qu'en effet, Messieurs, lorsqu'il nalt un heritier destine ä perpetuer un systbme national, cet Enfant n'est pas seulement le rejeton dune famille, mais il est vlritablement encore le fits du pays tout entier, et ce nom lui indique ses devoirs. Si cela dtait vrai sous 1'ancienne monarchie, qui reprEsentait plus exclusivement les classes privilegites, combien ä plus forte raison aujourd'hui que le souverain est 1'Elu de la nation, le premier citoyen du pays et le representant des intErefs de tous", 19 March 1856, Oeuvres, V, p. 10. 112 "Si j'espere que son sort sera plus heureux, c'est que d'abord confiant dans la Providence, je ne puis douter de sa protection en la voyant relever par un concours de circonstances extraordinaires tout ce qu'il lui avait plu d'abattre il ya quarante ans, comme si elle avait voulu vieillir par le martyre et par le malheur une nouvelle dynastie sortie des rangs du peuple", 19 March 1856, to the president of the Assembly, Oeuvres, v, p. 11.

216

The Head-servant declares that the true progression of the world occurs when "The

new power slays the old" [2010]. The world would not "last another day" if one could

"pre-arrange" the outcome of events [2023,2025]. He concludes (in pure Browning):

Depend on it, the change and the surprise Are part o' the plan: 't is we wish steadiness; Nature prefers a motion by unrest, Advancement through this force that jostles that.

[2027-30]

Sagacity, ever diplomatic, concedes the point and attempts to flatter the Head-servant

by pointing out that he himself is an example of the haphazard nature of God's world:

"Here are you picked out, by a miracle, And placed conspicuously enough, folk say And you believe, by Providence outright Taking a new way -nor without success - To put the world upon its mettle: good!

[2035-39]

It is understandable that the Head-servant should not want to interfere in the matter of

succession, but it is best to provide an heir and not risk the safety of society and all that

he has achieved, because

Fortune alternates with Providence; Resource is soon exhausted. Never count On such a happy hit occurring twice! Try the old method next time! "

[2040-43]

Louis Napoleon, unlike the Head-servant, tried the old method. He had learned "the

lessons of History":

It tells me, on the one hand, that one must never take advantage of the favours of fortune; on the other hand, that a dynasty's only chance of stability is to remain faithful to its origins by concerning itself solely with the interests of the people, the reason for which it has been created. And this child, the future of peace, blessed by the

217

Pope, acclaimed by the people, this child, I say, will be worthy, I hope, of the destiny which awaits him. 113

The Head-servant's final argument is that chastity is not an exact science, and the

authentication of one's progeny, itself, is uncertain. There is "nothing so unprovable /

As who is who, what son of what a sire" [2056-57]. This has a particular resonance for

Louis Napoleon because there was good reason to assume that he, himself, was illegitimate. He was born prematurely and, as a grown man, did not physically

resemble a Bonaparte at all. This was a constant source of irritation for Louis Napoleon

because on the many occasions when he would be unfavourably compared to his uncle, inevitably, the question of his legitimacy would be mentioned. To Swinburne he was "Buonaparte the bastard" 114 Hugo deliberately began the biographical section of Napoleon the Little with, "Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, born at Paris, on the 20

April, 1808 is the son of Hortense de Beauharnais, married by the Emperor, to Louis

Napoleon, King of Holland" [p. 24].

Louis Napoleon's parents did not have a happy marriage. They shared a mutual dislike of each other and spent most of their married life separated. According to Hortense's memoirs, "never did marriage more require the blessing of heaven". At

social occasions Louis would avoid speaking to her and she would turn from him "that

he might not see the cold indifference imprinted on her face". But since both were forced into the marriage by Napoleon, they empathized with each other and had

reached an understanding. "They openly confessed to each other their mutual dislike;

they acknowledged that force only had united them. In this strange open-heartedness they went so far as to pity each other as friends, on account of the misery they

experienced as man and wife. " Louis expressed the same sentiments in his

autobiography-"they both equally and constantly felt, that they were not suited for

each other. "115 The only time Louis and Hortense had seen each other in the year prior to Louis Napoleon's birth was in August. The Journal de Paris of Friday, 21 August 1807

113 "Elle me dit, d'une part, qu'il ne faut jamais abuser des faveurs de la fortune; de 1'autre, qu'une dynastie n'a de chance de stabilite que si eile reste fidele ä son origine en s'occupant uniquement des inter4ts populaires pour lesquels eile aE cr66e... cet Enfant, dis-je, sera digne, je 1'espere, des destinies qui I'attendent", 19 March 1856, Oeuvres, V, pp. 11-12. 114 "A Song in Time of Order. 1852. ", Poems and Ballads (john C. Hotten, 1866), p. 159,1.39. Madden referred to Louis Bonaparte as "the reputed father of the present Emperor", Madden, I, p. 466. 115 Hortense, I, pp. 13-15, p. 124. Louis Bonaparte, Historical Documents and Reflections on the Government of Holland, 3 vols (Lackington, 1820), I, p. 127.

218

reported that on Saturday, 15 August, "His Majesty, the King of Holland passed

through Toulouse for the first time ... The Queen arrived the previous Tuesday to be

reunited with Her august husband. "116 So the earliest date Hortense could have

conceived was Tuesday, 11 August. Full nine months would occur on 11 May 1808.

Louis Napoleon was born on 20 April-three weeks early. Hortense was careful to

emphasize that Louis Napoleon was premature, had a difficult birth, and remained

weak throughout his childhood. "My son was so weak that I thought I should lose him

directly after his birth. He had to be bathed in wine and to be wrapped in cotton to

bring him back to life. I had ceased to think about my own. "117 These are extremely

unpleasant thoughts for the Prince and one can clearly sense his relief at the

interruption of the dock: "this wild work wanders past all bound / And bearing! "

[2074-75].

The Head-servant's conclusion is that succession based on birth is wrong for all the

reasons he has mentioned. If one looks at rulers in history it is obvious that intelligence

or stupidity is not hereditary-even if one could guarantee a true continuation of the

blood-line. The leadership of a country, the fate of a nation, is too important to be left to

chance, to the "luck o' the pillow! " [2062].

No: select your lord By the direct employment of your brains As best you may, -bad as the blunder prove, A far worse evil stank beneath the sun When some legitimate blockhead managed so Matters that high time was to interfere, Though interference came from hell itself And not the blind mad miserable mob Happily ruled so long by pillow-luck And divine right, -by lies in short, not truth.

[2062-71]

In short, choose a form of government which allows the people to choose their leader on the basis of their wisdom and his ability. Once again, in the long term, it is always best

for the people to learn from their mistakes and be allowed to improve. That is the only

way society can truly progress and be saved. Leadership based on legitimacy, like that

116 -S. M. Le Roi de Holland passa une premiere fois a Toulouse.. . La Reine arriva mardi dernier pour se reunir ä son auguste 6poux", p. 1619. Also reported in Le Moniteur of 22 August 1807, pointed out in Jasper Ridley, Napoleon III and Eugenie (Constable, 1979), p. 14. 117 Jerrold, I, p. 63.

219

of the Bourbon and Orleans kings, led to not just revolution by the "miserable mob", but to "interference" by something "from hell itself". The Prince stops. Depressed by

doubts about his biological and political legitimacy, he realizes his last reference was to

Napoleon and himself-118

The Prince had ended the first part of his apology, the "Autobiography" [1220],

with an image of unjust condemnation based on stupidity and ignorance: the priest, Laocoön, being punished for trying to save the city (society) of Troy. His silent scream

of pain and anguish, immortalized in stone, is viewed by critics - who "cannot see" [1195] -as mere "Somnolency" [1198]. The purpose of the analogy was to suggest that

the Prince's considerable efforts towards the difficult task of maintaining and improving society fairly and without bias have been unappreciated, with him accused

of crimes and incompetence. Having exposed his character and philosophy, and argued the validity of his mission to save society, he proceeded to justify the means.

To save society was well: the means Whereby to save it, -there begins the doubt Permitted you, imperative on me; Were mine the best means? Did I work aright With powers appointed me?

[701-05]

He then showed, in the "Thiers-and-Victor-Hugo exercise", the application of his "means" in specific episodes from his career. His purpose was to demonstrate that the

rule necessary "on earth" [902] is different from that in "the better world" [1225]. The

contrast between the benefits of his reign and that of the Head-servant was to justify his

career. He mentioned the practical ways in which he had improved the state of the

country and the living standards of the people. He implied that, when faced with specific problems, he had always chosen the path which would cause the least harm

and the most benefit to society. Of course, for the "exercise" to function as the Prince intends, the audience should be, at least, half-convinced by the arguments of the first

section-that his intentions were just and his means justifiable.

118 In his "Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte" Byron had likened the Emperor to Satan: "Since he miscall'd the Morning Star, / Nor man nor fiend hath fall'n so far" [8-91. The reader, with Sedan and the Commune fresh in mind, would agree that the lines applied even more to Louis Napoleon.

220

Apart from being saviours of society, the Prince and the Head-servant have certain

characteristics in common which qualify their role as rulers. They have insight into "the

true state of things" [442]. The Head-servant sees "deeper" [1507}; the Prince sees

"clearest' [440]. They believe their mission is just. The Head-servant is sure he is "in

the hand of God" [1511]; the Prince has "His bidding to perform' [157]. They see their

rule as benefiting society's poor and needy. The Head-servant governed "for the many

first, / The poor mean multitude, all mouths and eyes" [1490-92]. The Prince was

affected by: "Such eyes I saw that craved the light alone, / Such mouths that wanted

bread and nothing else" [97-98]. And they both want a fair, balanced society: the Head-

servant aimed to "Equalize things a little" [1501]; the Prince felt he had managed to

keep "the balance straight... weighing claim and claim... giving each its due, no less no

more" [473-75].

Where they differ is in the applicaton of their views to society. The Head-servant

knows that no matter how wise or powerful he is it is a mistake to interfere in the affairs

of society beyond a certain point.

He recognized that for great minds i'the world There is no trial like the appropriate one Of leaving little minds their liberty Of littleness to blunder on through life, Now, aiming at right end by foolish means, Now, at absurd achievement through the aid Of good and wise means: trial to acquiesce In folly's life-long privilege -though with power To do the little minds the good they need, Despite themselves, by just abolishing Their right to play the part and fill the place I' the scheme of things He schemed who made alike Great minds and little minds, saw use for each.

[1288-1300]

The great mind also has great responsibility. The Head-servant knows that even if one

has the ability to "do the little minds the good they need", to do so would be wrong.

The only way society will grow and improve is for it to be allowed to "blunder on" and

learn from its mistakes. The Prince, however, helps the people, "Despite themselves",

by designating their roles; the only freedom they have is how well they can perform

their appointed tasks.

Each shall have its orbit marked,

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But no more, -none impede the other's path In this wide world, -though each and all alike, Save for me, fain would spread itself through space And leave its fellow not an inch of way. I rule and regulate the course, excite, Restrain: because the whole machine should march Impelled by those diversely-moving parts, Each blind to aught beside its little bent.

[460-68]

The Prince sees society as a machine with himself as sole designer and operator. What

he fails to understand is that while his machine can "march", it will not evolve. There is

no possibility of a "blunder". Each part will continue repeating its task "blind to aught

beside its little bent'. It is confidence in his own talents, coupled with belief that society

can, and should, be controlled, that allows the Prince to feel he has the right to break his

oath or use trickery. The Head-servant, aware of this temptation, has set strict

parameters of conduct for himself based on an ethical code. For the Prince ethics are a

matter of degree, not kind: he is willing and capable to break the law or resort to

trickery to gain an advantage.

This belief is the outcome of the fundamental difference between the rulers: the

Prince's change from an idealistic to a pragmatic approach to leadership. The Prince

has traced this change in detail in his "autobiography", and tried to justify it by the

"exercise". Before gaining power, the Prince had given voice to various causes:

Light in Rome, Law in Rome, and Liberty O' the soul in Rome - the free Church, the free State! ... "Unfettered commerce! Power to speak and hear, And print and read! The universal vote! Its rights for labour! " This, with much beside, I spoke when I was voice and nothing more.

[859-74]

Soon he discovered that what makes sense in theory is not always possible in practice:

Once pedestalled on earth, To act not speak, I found earth was not air. I saw that multitude of mine, and not The nakedness and nullity of air Fit only for a voice to float in free.

[902-06]

222

He did not lose his ideals, but began to discover the practical difficulties in their

application:

Did I believe one whit less in belief, Take truth for falsehood, wish the voice revoked That told the truth to heaven for earth to hear? No, this should be, and shall; but when and how? At what expense to these who average Your twenty years of life, my computists?

[912-17]

Specifically, since one has only a short time to affect changes and help society,

the bodily want serve first said I; If earth-space and life-time help not here, Where is the good of body having been? But, helping body, if we somewhat baulk The soul of finer fare, such food's to find Elsewhere and afterwards -all indicates, Even this self-same fact that soul can starve Yet body still exist its twenty years: While stint the body, there's an end at once a the revel in the fancy that Rome's free.

[919-28]

Ideals and causes are worthwhile "When only Mind's in question- Body bows / To

quite another government'. [1106-07]. He would have followed his inclinations if one

lived longer, if man's time was changed from twenty to a hundred.

Change life, in me shall follow change to match! Time were then, to work here, there, everywhere, By turns and try experiment at ease!

[1071-73]

That being impossible,

I sadly let the voices wing Their way i' the upper vacancy, nor test Truth on this solid as I promised once.

[1082-84]

The Prince's emphasis on the shortage of time is an indication of his pragmatism.

The Head-servant, however, knows not to count as one "The first step with the last

223

step"; his duty is to "trench upon the future". 119 He plans ahead and points to the long-

term benefits of his actions. The Prince thinks, acts, rules in the present. He looks for

visible gains and short-term solutions to problems, and is not beyond using trickery to

achieve them. From a dramatic point of view the Prince has not yet been witness to the

events of 1870-71 and there is little reason to doubt his sincerity in claiming his "twenty

years" was beneficial to society.

This was good service to humanity, Right usage of my power in head and heart, And reasonable piety beside.

[476-78]

The reader, however, is aware of the results of his reign. The society the Prince has

been saving and regulating for twenty years has suffered through a civil war. Rome has

been assimilated into the Kingdom of Italy, making the French defence of the Papacy

seem like much wasted effort. The attempt to slowly purge the people of their warlike

tendencies - in spite of themselves - has not worked: their enthusiasm for the war with

Prussia has shown that they are as eager for war as ever. And there is a very strong

case to be made that his wish to ensure a dynasty was the main cause of the war in the

first place. The Prince tried to justify his oath-breaking by concentrating on its prevention of

chaos, revolution, and loss of life, but the Head-servant's view has been proven right. The coup d'etat gave Louis Napoleon absolute power and prevented much internal

fighting; but it also suppressed dissenting voices and postponed the conflict. Louis

Napoleon's breaking of the law, his misguided attempt to alter the natural progression

of the country, created a society unable to prevent the horrendous events of the

Commune. The Prince argued he had prescribed "pill and potion" [1465] before "death

i the body politic" [1464]; in fact he was nursing a canker. The suppression of socialist factions led to their explosion in the two months of the Commune, the ensuing civil

war, and immense loss of life. To use Carlyle's picturesque language, "Our condition,

after eighty-two years of struggling, 0 ye quack upper classes, is still unimproved; more intolerable from year to year, and from revolution to revolution: and by the Eternal

119 Sordello [V. 86,197]

224

Powers, if you cannot mend it, we will blow up the world, along with ourselves and

you "120

With the defence of the Papacy Louis Napoleon gained Catholic support and

maintained French influence in the region, but burdened himself for twenty years with

having to reluctantly uphold an unpopular anachronism. Instead of achieving his

personal wish of a united Italy, he became, despite himself, an obstacle. The moment

the French troops were withdrawn from Rome in 1870, the Papal States came to an end

and was incorporated into a (finally) united Italy.

His improvements to the country's various industries and the living standards of

the people, unfortunately, did not encourage a similar growth in the people's morality

and wisdom. The rebuilding of Paris, the wide boulevards which were designed to

highlight the edifices of the regime and prevent the setting up of barricades during

disturbances, ironically led to a greater division of rich and poor and a more violent

revolution at the fall of the Empire. The justification for the free trade experiment was

the creation of closer ties between nations. Any such gains seem insignificant when

compared to the "mushroom growth" [1728] in armaments for which France's erratic,

suspicious, and covetous behaviour was responsible. The extreme popularity of the war

with Prussia, and the speed with which it was implemented, utterly disproved

Sagacity's theory that the "famed fort's a ruin past repair" [1718]. The rise in the quality

of life had not lessened the people's spirit for fighting. The trick did not work because

the annexation of Savoy and Nice canceled any possible subconscious aversion to war

the new comforts might have instilled in the minds of the people. On the contrary, it

clearly implied that war can be glorious and profitable. Ironically, the willingness to

fight Prussia resulted in much greater loss of territory for France.

The Prince pointed out that his coup d'etat had saved lives, cleverly distorting the

original reason for his condemnation: the people who had died during his coup d'etat

were demonstrating against an illegal act. No previous civil suppression had achieved

such notoriety. Napoleon was praised for the efficiency with which he used his

cannons on the people in his defence of the Assembly on 5 October 1795 (13

Vendemiaire). Louis Philippe had dealt with both socialist and royalist uprisings on

many occasions. In one of the worst cases, in June 1832, "the citizens of Paris were

killed in thousands by the artillery, the fusillades and the bayonets. They shared a

similar fate in Lyons, Grenoble, and elsewhere. " The July Monarchy was a regime in

120 Froude, II, p. 406.

225

which press liberty was "nearly abolished", "espionage of the police penetrated every

domicile and haunted every person", liberties were suppressed, and very limited

franchise existed based on property (250,000, out of a population of thirty-five

million)121 The July Monarchy was in many ways as autocratic as the Second Empire,

but it was not based on an illegality. Even in 1848 Cavaignac was praised for

suppressing the June insurrections, despite deaths and transportations estimated in the

thousands. The Times explained that "Dreadful as was the alternative, he was justified

in employing against his misguided fellow-citizens all the forces of the country and all

the rights of war"? 22 It is very probable that had Louis Napoleon acted as the Head-

servant, he would not have been condemned for "thrice the expenditure" [1472] of

human life. The Prince based his role as saviour of his country on the premise that the

ends justify the means; he has been proven wrong on both points.

121 John Macgregor, "The Governments of Continental Europe", TEM, 19 (1852), 257-64 (p. 259, p. 261). 122 28 June 1848, p. 6; 31 August 1848, p. 6; 27 June 1848, p. 5.

226

Chapter 6

Politics

Ogniben. I have seen three-and-twenty leaders of revolts! - By your leave, Sir! Perform? What does the lady say of Performing?

Chiappino. Only the trite saying, that we must not trust Profession, only Performance.

Ogni. She'll not say that, Sir, when she knows you longer; you'll instruct her better. Ever judge of men by their professions! For tho' the bright moment of promising is but a moment and cannot be prolonged, yet, if sincere in its moment's extravagant goodness, why, trust it and know the man by it, I say- not by his performance -which is half the world's work, interfere as the world needs must with its accidents and circumstances, -the profession was purely the man's own! I judge people by what they might be, -not are, nor will be.

Chiap. But have there not been found, too, performing natures, not merely promising?

A Soul's Tragedy [II. 286-303]

In the "Thiers-and-Victor-Hugo exercise" Browning compares two instances of

autocratic rule. He implies that-given a situation in which all authority is given to one

person-the ultimate aim of the ruler should be to restore power to the people. In order

to prepare society for that eventuality, the ruler has to act selflessly and ethically. The

ruler should have a strong moral code and obey the laws of the country. The use of

trickery, even for beneficial gains, will do more harm than good. Browning's readers

would have been familiar with these views. Sordello sacrifices love and family (and

eventually himself) for what he believes to be right. He chooses to fight on the side of

the Guelf faction which he sees as the more democratic side, based on law, not the

person of the Emperor:

Rome's the Cause! The Rome of the old Pandects, our new laws - The Capitol turned Castle Angelo And structures that inordinately glow Corrected by the Theatre forlorn As a black mundane shell, its world late born

-Verona, that's beside it. These combined, We typify the scheme to put mankind

227

Once more in full possession of their rights By his sole agency. On me it lights To build up Rome again - me, first and last: For such a Future was endured the Past!

[985-96]

He decides to devote himself to helping society and working towards a better future for

the people.

In A Soul's Tragedy, Browning depicts the downfall of one whose altruism was not

as strong as Sordello's. Chiappino begins his career dishonestly. To protect a friend, he

claims responsibility for killing the Provost; but instead of being arrested, is taken by

the people as their liberator. He knows he should promptly disown the deed in favour

of his friend,

but the peril, So far from ended, hardly seems begun! To-morrow, rather, when a calm succeeds, We easily shall make him full amends.

[I. 394-97]

He does not, and this seed of vanity and personal ambition is nurtured and employed

against him by the Papal Legate, Ogniben, who knows the truth. He is very familiar

with the allure and temptations of power, and has successfully dealt with similar

revolutionary situations on twenty-three previous occasions. He explains that

Chiappino is a born leader, belonging to that group of "clearer-seers, deeper-thinkers"

[II. 154] who know "the noble nature of the soul, its divine impulses, and so forth" [II.

161-62]. Armed with this knowledge, Chiappino can "encounter the natural doubts

and fears ... that are apt to waylay us the weaker ones in the road of Life" [II. 163-66].

His rule will be a "legitimate government by the Best and Wisest" [II. 137-38].

Chiappino claims he is convinced that Chi. appino has the talent to improve the "system

of absolute government by a Provost" [II. 224-251. He believes he can "inform these

perverted institutions with fresh purpose, bring the functionary limbs once more into

immediate communication with, and subjection to the soul I am about to bestow on

them" [II. 219-22]. Sounding remarkably like the Prince, he turns from his

revolutionary ideals (very quickly) and decides society needs to be saved: "Why should

one desire to invent, so long as it remains possible to renew and transform? When all

further hope of the old organization shall be extinct, then, I grant you, it will be time to

228

try and create another" [II. 223-27]. Chiappino falls when his trick is divulged to the

people. Ogniben becomes the new Provost. An opportunity for society to move away

from despotism lost.

Another precursor of Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau is King Victor and King Charles.

The play contrasts two different methods of leadership. King Victor is no stranger to

"shifts, / Dissimulation, wiliness" [1. H. 401-02]; he has broken his oaths to God and

man [1. H. 263-64], and does use falsehood to reach truth: "In its success, this falsehood

is again / Truth for the world" [2. I. 291-92]. Victor's feudal rule has turned the

kingdom into "a mass of misery / And wrath" [1. I. 208-09], populated by "A miserable

people mad with wrongs" [1. I. 228]. Victor's latest trick, however, has been

unsuccessful:

a trick Learnt to advantage once, and not unlearnt When past the use, - "just this once more" (I thought).

[1.11.12-14]

To get out of trouble, he abdicates in favour of his son. Charles, by contrast, is "good"

and "wise" [2. I. 44]. He frees the country from the "hideous coil" [2. I. 56] which was

the legacy of his father: he does "the people right" and redresses the "nobles' grievance

too" [2. I. 60-61]. He believes in an ethical rule: "Truth here for us-truth everywhere

for God: / All else is rambling and presumption" [2. I. 286-87]. He has moved from his

father's "absolutest rule" to giving "power to the people" [2. I. 312-14], with the result

that he has gained the love of his people, the loyalty of the army, and the allegiance of

the nobility [2. II. 56-90]. His is a society preparing to be ruled by a more democratic

form of government.

Browning did not consider the Second Empire to have a true democratic basis,

despite the confirmations of the plebiscites. He believed that by the time Louis

Napoleon appealed to the nation to justify his coup d'Etat most dissenting voices had

been silenced, opponents in the Assembly and the army imprisoned, and thousands

exiled and deported. He wrote from Paris: "Ba says good arrangement or bad, seven

millions strong, empowered him to get into the steeple & act as he pleased-while I

don't allow that they were in a condition to judge of the case, at liberty to speak their

229

judgement. "1 Even though he was reluctant to justify the coup d'@tat ("Louis Napoleon

is found to cut the knot instead of untying it"), given "the difficulty of the position with

the stupid, selfish & suicidal Assembly", he was willing to tolerate the act (to forget, if

not forgive) as long as Louis Napoleon honoured his promise to restore democracy once

the crisis was over. "One must not be pedantic and overexacting, and if the end justifies

the beginning, the illegality of the step may be forgotten in the prompt restoration of the

law. " He compared Louis Napoleon's action to someone taking possession of the town

clock in order "to set it right". "But his next procedure is to put all the wheelwork in his

pocket, and promise to cry the hour instead-which won't do at all. " He does not

return the clock. The dictatorial decrees subsequent to the coup d'etat made it clear that

Louis Napoleon meant to be the only one in control of time. In such a situation, even if

one believed in "the after-expediency of keeping a bad servant rather than going

altogether without one", the least Louis Napoleon could do is to announce the correct

time. "Now that you have stolen our clock, do stay & and cry according to your

promise", but "he does not keep his promise" 2

In the poem, the Head-servant does announce the correct time through his lawful

and ethical rule; and, since he has no dynastic ambitions, he is planning to return the

clock when society is ready. In this chapter I would like to examine the arguments the

Prince uses to explain and justify his taking and keeping of the clock. I will conclude by

discussing Browning's personal attitude towards Louis Napoleon based on the poem

and his other works and letters.

The Prince

At the second attempt at the poem the reader knows that the "ghostly dialogue"

[2092] was caused by a telegram, "The sight of whose grey oblong, whose grim seal, /

Set all these fancies floating. " The Prince has prepared his response-the letter

14 February 1852, George Barrett, p. 169. On deportations, supression of the press, dissenting voices see The Times, 19 February 1852, p. 5; 29 March 1852, p. 4. 24 February 1852, George Barrett, p. 169. Browning ended his analogy by mentioning that his wife agreed that Louis Napoleon had broken his promise, "but she will have it still that 'they chose him' ... And so end our debates, till the arrival of the next newspaper. " A year later EBB reported that she wrestles "hard with my own husband on that very subject... [Louis Napoleon] does not allow enough liberty for me-he keeps too heavy a foot on the press.. . He intends to let the people breathe, in their intellectual life, presently, when he can", 15 March 1853, Mitford, III, pp. 380-81.

230

containing the declaration of war -and is pondering its fate. He has intimations that

the resultant "adventure" [21391 might lead to his downfall since "desert whispers

grow a prophecy". For that eventuality, therefore, he has imagined a situation where he

can examine and defend his career, to explain his aims and ensure a proper

understanding of his actions:

what if Sphynx in wise old age, Grown sick of snapping foolish people's heads, And jealous for her riddle's proper rede, - Jealous that the good trick which served the turn Have justice rendered it... Tell all to Corinth of her own accord, Bright Corinth, not dull Thebes, for Lais' sake.

[9-19]

But will wise "Sphynx" answer the riddle - not just properly, but truthfully? In Greek

mythology Sphinx kills itself when Oedipus answers its riddle. The analogy, taken to

its logical conclusion, would mean that self-revealment would result in the Prince's

symbolic death (by his own hand). Oedipus is symbolic of the solving of the riddle.

Substituting LaYs for Oedipus removes an unpleasant association; it also hints that

perhaps the Prince does not intend to tell "all".

Prior to the Prince, Browning's casuists function in circumstances where they have

to dominate and control the situation in order to succeed, whether they act from a

position of authority (Blougram) or of supplication (Sludge, Count Guido Franceschini).

The tactics may differ slightly for each character, but the basic strategy is to present a

sympathetic persona. This will influence the attitude of their audience, draw attention

away from their true purpose, and mask the psychological implications of the

occasional vicious, verbal attacks. The vastly cultured and cunning Bishop Blougram

wants to teach a lesson to the young newspaper hack, Gigadibs, who does not have the

wisdom and experience of his idealistic convictions and dares to "despise me" [21].

Blougram invites Gigadibs to dinner, gets him drunk ("Softly, my friend! " [599]) and,

with a display of hospitality and benevolence, proceeds to refute his arguments. The

level of the proceeding can be traced by Blougram's forms of address. He begins with

"Mr. Gigadibs", it is "friend" for the duration of the talk, and at the end, victory is

announced with a frosty, "sir". Blougram's majestic condescension is perfected when

Browning discloses to the reader that some of the Bishop's arguments were designed

specifically for Gigadibs, and do not necessarily represents his true beliefs.

231

Sludge is caught cheating and is threatened with exposure and physical harm. His

tactics are to gain sympathy by showing how society (including his host) by its

hypocrisy, frivolity, superstition, and collusion is responsible for his becoming a

charlatan-for "Ruining a soul so! " [403]. But first he quickly establishes his dominance

with a treat and a threat. He agrees to disclose his secrets ("What? If I told you all about

the tricks? " [55]), but points out that he can always claim his host has purposely "picked

a quarrel' [711 in order to recover his gifts. Thus a minute after being strangled by his

host, he can order "a parting egg-nog and cigar! " [77]. He proceeds to prove how his

cheating is "your own fault more than mine" [84], and his performance is of such high

quality ("How you do tease the whole thing out of me! " [794]) that, instead of exposure,

he is given more money, gifts, and allowed to stay the night.

Count Guido Franceschini, after torture, gives evidence to exonerate himself of the

killing of his wife. Like Christ, to whom he compares himself throughout, he forgives

his captors who were only doing their duty. He is sorry for any bother he has caused

("A trifle of torture.. . Is naught" [75-77]). He simply wants to put everyone at their ease

to facilitate the search for truth.

Thanks, Sir, but should it please the reverend Court, I feel I can stand somehow, half sit down Without help, make shift to even speak, you see, Fortified by the sip of... why, 't is wine, Velletri, - and not vinegar and gall, So changed and good the times grow! Thanks, kind Sir! Oh, but one sip's enough! I want my head To save my neck, there's work awaits me still. How cautious and considerate... aie, aie, aie, Not your fault, sweet Sir! Come, you take to heart An ordinary matter. Law is law.

[1-11]

He argues that his actions are justifiable: "Will the Court of its charity teach poor

me.. . where was the wrong step? " [431-35]. The Count's tactics are to make his accusers

feel almost ashamed of having such a paragon in their court, but he also attacks by

reminding the Court that they are trying one of their own and should be cautious in

setting precedents: "why, so did I, / So did your Lordship, if town-talk be true" [485-

86]. As his account of injustice grows, so does the nature of his accusations. He feels he

can safely remind them that had they honoured their responsibility when he, "Only

232

some months since, set you duly forth / My wrong and prayed your remedy" [1810-

11], he would not now be in court "for having done the thing you thought to do" [1998].

All three casuists, besides their propensity for the legal profession, strengthen their

position by claiming the support of God and truth. Blougram, a priest, desires to "see

truth dawn" [17]. Sludge will tell "the whole truth" [56], and "As for religion-why, I

served it, sir! " [664]. The Count has an "impulsion to tell the truth" [844], and has done

"God's bidding" [1703]. The Prince shares these attributes. His sophistry is of the

highest standard; his purpose is to give a "plain" answer to his riddle [62], and he sees himself as God's courier on earth [156]. His tactic to gain sympathy is symbolized by

his example of the Laocoön- the claim that he and his actions have been misunderstood

("what meant certain things he did of old, /Which puzzled Europe" [61-62]). He has an

advantage over the other casuists in controlling the situation, because it is his creation. He chooses his judges, the charges, and the nature and pace of his arguments. On the

other hand, his task is much more difficult. Whereas the others have no compunction in

resorting to lies in order to manipulate their audience, the real audience the Prince is

confronting is himself. If he was not aware of this when he began his reverie, he is

aware of it by the time he finishes. Once he has dismissed his imaginary characters, he

has to satisfy his own conscience. However much "Sphynx" is willing to tell, it will do

so in soliloquy mode.

The task the Prince sets himself is clear enough: to defend himself by discussing his

aims for his society, the means available to him, and the extent of his achievements. A

favourite trick of Browning - exemplified in the sophistry of his characters - is to blur

the distinction between personal integrity and material achievement. The casuist would

pretend that both are measured with the same scale. When Gigadibs urges that "the

trying shall suffice; / The aim, if reached or not, makes great the life" [491-92],

Blougram counters that there is no point in trying to write Hamlet if one is not Shakespeare. (For Browning, the lessons learned and insights gained from the attempt is, ultimately, more important than producing a masterpiece. ) The Prince tries to avoid

this problem by explaining that aspiration is not an issue. His having fulfiled the

position God intended for him is proof of his spiritual development and emotional

growth. The real question is: "Did I work aright / With powers appointed me? -since

233

powers denied / Concern me nothing" [704-06]. 3 Blougram's discussion remains

theoretical, with no intention of listing specific achievements. The Prince deliberately

draws attention to the nature of his achievements: "Well, my work reviewed / Fairly,

leaves more hope than discouragement" [706-07]. For the rest of his "autobiography",

he explains why it was necessary to sustain and revitalize society; why certain plans

had to be abandoned; why greater emphasis had to be put on the practical needs of the

people. In short, his keeping society safe for twenty years is a great achievement.

Perhaps it is because he does not face a real interlocutor that his defence lacks the

subtlety of his predecessors'. After all, he is posing questions to which he has ready

answers. His review of his achievements remains mostly theoretical. He defends his

methodology ("the illogical touch now here now there" [798]) as much as his primary

goal of "'Not bread alone' but bread before all else" [918]. He implies as much himself

after finishing the first two parts of his task:

you have one half your wish, At least: you know the thing I tried to do! All, so far, to my praise and glory - all Told as befits the self-apologist, - Who ever promises a candid sweep And clearance of those errors miscalled crimes None knows more, none laments so much as he, And ever rises from confession, proved A god whose fault was - trying to be a man. just so, fair judge, - if I read smile aright- I condescend to figure in your eyes As biggest heart and best of Europe's friends, And hence my failure.

[1200-12]

He senses the need to discuss and defend his achievements in greater detail. It is not

sufficient to only justify one's intentions. He changes tactics, creates new characters,

and embarks on the more subtle "Thiers-and-Victor-Hugo exercise" [1223]. That is not

to say the arguments in his "autobiography" are invalid; in fact, if anything, they are

too logical. He posits a definition, a general structure, and argues his conclusion on that

basis.

3 Des Nees napoleoniennes (Oeuvres, I, p. 38): "But there is one point, on which all who recognize in the Emperor a great man must agree: it is that, if he made mistakes, his intentions were always equal to his powers. "

234

One definition is that God creates all men and sets them on specific paths based on

the abilities and talents He has imbued them with. The Prince is careful to point out the

notion of free will. One's actions are one's own responsibility; God's judgement will

depend on how well one has employed one's talents. If he were God's courier:

I have His bidding to perform; but mind And body, all of me, though made and meant For that sole service, must consult, concert With my own self and nobody beside, How to effect the same: God helps not else. 'T is I who, with my stock of craft and strength, Choose the directer cut across the hedge, Or keep the foot track that respects a crop. Lie down and rest, rise up and run, -live spare, Feed free, - all that's my business: but, arrive, Deliver message, bring the answer back, And make my bow, I must then God will speak, Praise me or haply blame as service proves.

[157-69]

Such a system implies an hierarchy of talent where one's station in life is both

logical and justified. The Prince is also careful to stress the relative equality of all in this

system. He is just as dependent on God for motivation and guidance:

Do I appear subordinated less To hand-impulsion, one prime push for all, Than little lives of men, the multitude That cried out, every quarter of an hour, For fresh instructions, did or did not work, And praised in the odd minutes?

[225-30]

No one is favoured above another since the tasks are relative to one's abilities. It is not

a question of a difficult task like ruling a country,

But how keep open shop, and yet pay rent, Rear household, and make both ends meet, the same. I say, such man is no less tasked than I To duly take the path appointed him By whatsoever sign he recognize. Our insincerity on both our heads! No matter what the object of a life, Small work or large, -the making thrive a shop, Or seeing that an empire take no harm, -

235

There are known fruits to judge obedience by. [212-21]

The only difference is that some have the consciousness to "recognize" [216] their

designated path. This is another definition. Such people, like the Prince, are

"favoured" [207] with a "special stock of power" [237] that allows them this insight .4 The Prince's final definition has to do with the popular nineteenth-century theories

of heroism.

History shows you men whose master-touch Not so much modifies as makes new: Minds that transmute nor need restore at all. A breath of God made manifest in flesh Subjects the world to change, from time to time, Alters the whole conditions of our race Abruptly, not by unperceived degrees Nor play of elements already there, But quite new leaven, leavening the lump, And liker, so, the natural process. See!

[320-29]

He is describing a type of Carlylean Hero, "the master that renews the age" [615]:

"Some dervish desert spectre, swordsman, saint, / Law-giver, lyrist, - oh, we know the

names! " [350-51]. These men "have birth at rare / Uncertain unexpected intervals / O'

the world" [346-48] and are "Destined to come and change things thoroughly" [405].

With their advent, one gets "a world broke up / And re-made, order gained by law

destroyed" [342-43]. The Prince claims that this order is inevitable. These exhalations

of God are "Destined" to emerge when necessary. They are forces of nature who

"helping, thwarting, conscious, unaware" [367] affect the world simply through their

existence. Having offered these definitions, the Prince's next step is to justify his superlative

position, at the head of society. He understands the mind of God, historical transitions,

and the needs and functions of society ("this plan / Of which I know the purpose and

approve" [372-73]). According to his insight, at this stage in time, society is in need of

4 Browning's Don Juan has similar pretentions: I, who have the power to swim,

The skill to understand the law whereby each limb May bear to keep immersed.

Fifine at the Fair [1065-67]

236

containment, not upheaval, and he is best suited for the task. The Heroes have left

society "ready to my hand, / Waiting my turn of trial" [368-69]. He gives two reasons

to justify his claim. The first, based on his own theory of an hierarchy of talent, is that

he is the best qualified:

this I can, - and nobody my peer, - Do the best with the least change possible: Carry the incompleteness on, a stage, Make what was crooked straight, and roughness smooth, And weakness strong.

[396-400]

Next, the fact that there are no Heroes on the scene proves that they are not yet

necessary:

Our time requires No such strange potentate, - who else would dawn, - No fresh force till the old have spent itself.

Well, that's my mission, so I serve the world. Figure as man o' the moment, - in default Of somebody inspired to strike such change Into society.

[352-93]5

He is a (hero as) "conservator" [298]. "Not a creator nor destroyer: one / Who keeps the

world safe" [299-300]. Traditionally heroes render society "efficient for the age's need"

[314]; but they perform it "By first abolishing the present law" [318]. He, however, he

modestly points out, is different: "No such proud task for me by any means! "[319];

"Quite other these than I" [352]. He is the type who comes in between Heroes. He

inherits a society left from the effects of the last Hero ("left ready to my hand, / Waiting

my turn of trial" [369-701) and has to maintain and restore it in preparation for the next

Hero .6 This is not an easy task, but has often been dismissed since "'T is the transition-

stage, the tug and strain / That strike men" [722-23]. The "vulgar" [715] tend to

5 Des Idees napol%niennes (Oeuvres, I, p. 27): "When the ideas, which have governed the world during long periods, lose, through the necessary transformation of societies, of their force and of their empire, new ones arise, destined to replace those which preceded them. " 6 Des Idles napoleoniennes (Oeuvres, I, p. 171): "The Genius of our epoch has need only of simple reason. Thirty years ago it was necessary to predict and prepare; now one has to but see properly and to inherit"

237

remember that Hercules carried the sky on his shoulders for one day; they fail to

appreciate Atlas who did it for many years. The Prince will labour at his difficult task

so that at the Hero's advent, the "transition-stage",

He, at least, finds his business simplified, Distinguishes the done from undone, reads Plainly what meant and did not mean this time We live in, and I work on, and transmit To such successor: he will operate On good hard substance, not mere shade and shine.

[406-11]7

The Prince claims authority from God and History, but his arguments are based on

definitions and syllogisms. His justification of his right to "order", "influence" and

"rule men" [278-79] is based on his own definition that he is gifted with an "eye to

probe" [3051 which allows him the "clearest" [440] understanding of "the true state of

things" [442] and of his own destiny. Thus he has realized that it is his mission and

duty to rule society. The truth of his claim would necessarily depend on his

achievements. The Prince shares many of the attributes of a Carlylean Hero: "the seeing

eye", "genuine insight", mission "to make what was disorderly, chaotic, into a thing

ruled, regular". But Carlyle also warns that there are false (and failed) Heroes. Even

though perfection is impossible in the world and no bricklayer can build a wall that is

exactly perpendicular, he must not "sway too much from the perpendicular" and "throw

plummet and level quite away from him". "He has forgotten himself: but the Law of

Gravitation does not forget to act on him; he and his wall rush down into confused

welter of ruin. "8 Whether or not the Prince is a true Hero, I believe the poem implies

that by breaking the law and resorting to trickery the Prince "forgot himself", and his

wall eventually fell into ruin. Similarly, the Prince is the only authority of the validity

of the original premises of his syllogistic arguments.

(1) God has given him a talent to rule men. (2) He has become a ruler of men.

7 Des Idees napoleoniennes (Oeuvres, I, p. 24): "The best government is one which fulfils well its mission, that is to say, one which forms itself on the needs of the epoch, and which, in modelling itself upon the present state of society, employs the necessary means to open a smooth and easy road for advancing civilization. " 8 Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History (London: Fraser, 1841), p. 170, p. 346, p. 328, pp. 318-19.

238

(3) Therefore, he has achieved his God-given destiny

(1) No Hero has emerged in his age. (2) Heroes emerge when society needs change. (3) Therefore, society is not in need of change.

(1) Society needs to be maintained. (2) He is best suited to that task. (3) Therefore, he should be in charge.

(1) He knows he is the "man o' the moment". (2) He is a conservator. (3) Therefore, society needs to be conserved.

The Prince claims that man's ultimate aim on earth is to fulfil his God-given role.

Namely, that just the creature I was bound To be, I should become, nor thwart at all God's purpose in creation.

[246-48]

He points out that since his talent and ability are God-given toward a specific purpose, his obedience to and performance of that purpose will give him pleasure. He spends his time "In doing what seemed best for me to do, / So as to please myself" [232-33].

The pleasure is both the result of the action itself and is derived from the knowledge

that he is performing God's will. But, he himself, has decided what God's will is. He is

using the term that he wants to define within the definition itself. The Prince is saying, "I enjoy doing what I'm good at, and since I'm good at it, it must be God's will, and my

enjoyment is further proof that God approves - all the better for me. " Thus his task of

ruling men provides

For their good and my pleasure in the act. Such good accomplished proves twice good to me - Good for its own sake, as the just and right, And, in the effecting also, good again To me its agent, tasked as suits my taste.

[282-86]

"There are known fruits to judge obedience by" [221], and the disturbing implication of such second-rate sophistry is the view that success in an endeavour is its own justification.

239

If such views of the structure and order of the world seem preposterous to the

modem mentality, it needs to be stressed that they are little different from those held by

Browning. In his "Essay on Shelley" (which he finished during Louis Napoleon's coup d'etat), Browning assumes an evolutionary process which would be quite acceptable to

the Prince-one simply replaces politician with poet. In the essay Browning defines

two types of poets, subjective and objective, and their emergence and function within

their age. Like the Prince, the poet has a "fuller perception of nature and man". He

"perceives... with reference ... to the one above him, the supreme intelligence", partially

attaining "not what man sees, but what God sees... appealing through himself to the

absolute divine mind". Each man has his "especial want" and every age has its

"requirement". Once the correspondence between the attributes of the poet and the

requirements of the age is no longer true, "Then is the imperative call for the

appearance of another sort of poet, who shall at once replace this intellectual

rumination of food swallowed long ago".

This is the poet as hero, "For the misapprehensiveness of his age is exactly what a

poet is sent to remedy". Browning believed in a "hierarchy of creative minds", a view

which he explained in detail to Milsand two months after his Essay. 9 Browning wrote that he accepts "entirely" Milsand's representation of human nature "with its inevitable

inequalities of all sorts".

It is ignorance to say there is not a born general, colonel, captain, corporal, rank and file, down to the sutler and camp follower; and even an arbitrary and conventional bestowment of these grades, as a reminder that they exist in nature, is better than ignoring them altogether, which is ruinous. But it is unjust and detrimental to double and yet neutralize this natural inequality by pertinaciously putting the social badge of distinction on the wrong man. 10

Browning believed in human inequality as designated by God, but - unlike the Prince - condoned social interference based on those inequalities. The Prince gives in to the

temptation that knowing the mind of God, understanding his relationship with man, justifies interference. He wrongly assumes that his understanding is proof of the

9 The essay is printed in Penguin, I, pp. 1001-1013. The quotations are from pages 1002-04,1006, 1012. 10 The letter, dated 24 February 1853, is quoted in Th. Bentzon [Therese Blanc], "A French Friend of Browning, Joseph Milsand", Scnbner's Magazine, 20 (18%), 108-20 (p. 110). Browning had

240

propriety of his assistance -as if God needs assistance. Pippa's songs are such powerful

catalysts because she is so completely unaware of her interference with the lives of the

characters (and, thus, is a true agent of God). The poet in "How it Strikes a

Contemporary" is not God's representative, "not so much a spy / As a recording chief- inquisitor" [38-39]: he does not presume, he reports. Ogniben's true advice is "you only do right to believe you must get better as you get older.. . and get ready in old age for

another world" [II, 634-07], implying Browning's view of life as self-improvement and

respect for the rights of others. King Charles warns his father to "Keep within your

sphere and mine! / It is God's province we usurp on else" [2. I. 283-84]. The Pope, the

only one remotely justified to "think, speak, act, in place of Him" [162], still agonizes "with true sweat of soul" [325], before announcing his judgement. By contrast, the mad

Johannes Agricola knows he has "God's warrant" [33]. The aspiring Paracelsus is

"God's commissary" [I, 616]. The warped lover of Porphyria believes God's silence

justifies his action. Djabal realizes that he was wrong in hoping "Heaven would accept

me for its instrument" [IV. 72].

The Prince, more than any other of Browning's characters, falls into this trap. He is

asked directly by his critics, "Did you attain, then, to perceive that God / Knew what He undertook when He made things? " [618-19]. "Ay" [620], he answers. The Head-

servant did not try to act God, to force his decisions and rules on the people: to

substitute himself "For them, his knowledge, will and way, for God's" [1313]. The

Prince thinks otherwise. The society he has saved will be an utopia on its way to

becoming a Heaven. Not surprisingly, he remembers Plato, the first utopian, and a kindred spirit: "I recognize a mind / Not mine but like mine" [574-75]:

When he, who was earth's best geometer Up to that time of day, consigned his life With its results into one matchless book, The triumph of the human mind so far, All in geometry man yet could do: And then wrote on the dedication-page In place of name the universe applauds, "But, God, what a geometer art Thou! "

[581-88]11

parodied this point in A Soul's Tragedy, where Chiappino explains why "men of genius... pay such undue respect to titles and badges of superior rank" [II, 509-15]. 11 Plutarch's Morals, ed. by William W. Goodwin, 5 vols (Sampson Low, 1870), V, pp. 402-06 on the question, "What is Plato's Meaning, When He Says That God Always Plays the Geometer".

241

Suddenly, the Prince's use of geometric imagery becomes more than a technical device.

From the very beginning he has cast himself as a geometer ("begin with Euclid" [58]).

His first example was of drawing a line between two blots; the second, of a circle with

lines extending from the centre. He professes to "trace / The broken circle of society"

[300-01]. Society is a "diagram left ready" [369] to his hand. Understanding his whole

person is that "plaguy quadrature" [59], the problem of squaring the circle. Even the

movement of his speech is geometric, connecting words instead of blots. From "Now I

permit' [45] to "Now, well extend" [92]; from "to please myself" [111] to "why I pleased

myself" [257]; from "So as to please myself on the great scale" [233] to "what's meant /

To please me most o' the great scale" [261]; from "gain a fact" [56] to "meditate the fact"

[256]; from "I profess to trace" [300] to "the plan traced so far" [364].

The Prince wants Heaven on earth with himself as God. He begins as God's

"agent" [286], "Subject to ultimate judgement" [254]. He then becomes God's

collaborator: "my task was to co-operate" [620]. At some point he becomes "vocal

through the universe" [867]. Grammatically he couples himself with God: "I with my

courier, God with me" [156]; "He knows: I... know" [178]; "I want... God wants too"

[470-71]. And, just to make certain the reader has not missed the point, Browning has

the Prince end the first part of his monologue describing himself as "A god whose fault

was -trying to be man" [1208].

The Prince believes his unparalleled optics, divine mission, and ability to "trace"

the "purpose written on the face of things" for his "behoof and guidance" [935-37],

justifies his right to "discuss /A brother's right to freedom". For example, the freedom

of speech and press where one prints "Whate'er one pleases and who pleases reads /

The same, and speaks out and is spoken to" [930-31] can have disastrous consequences:

divers hundred thousand fools may vote A vote unhampered with by one wise man, And so elect Barabas deputy In lieu of his concurrent.

[932-35]

Such belief also allows him to refute all contrary criticism. He loves, understands, and

helps society with "reasonable piety" [478]. The bard, on the other hand, with "mock

The allusion is pointed out in Penguin, I, p. 1180, n. 581. The same allusion is made in "Easter

242

humility" [536], "puts mankind well outside himself / And then begins instructing

them" [529-30]. His critics are foolish and selfish. They pester him with a childish sing-

song of "And that's all? " [432,613] and "Nay, all that? " [616]. They are "born to

idleness / And impotency, get their good, and have / Their hooting at the giver" [412-

14].

You man of faith, I did not tread the world Into a paste, and thereof make a smooth Uniform mound whereon to plant your flag, The lily-white, above the blood and brains! Nor yet did I, you man of faithlessness, So roll things to the level which you love, That you could stand at ease there and survey The universal Nothing undisgraced By pert obtrusion of some old church-spire I' the distance! Neither friend would I content, Nor, as the world were simply meant for him, Thrust out his fellow and mend God's mistake.

[484-95]

Each faction is ruled by selfish needs, but he, benevolent and wise, cannot get angry at

them (wise or foolish, Godless or priest). He will try to guide them onto the right path:

Why, you two fools, - my dear friends all the same, - Is it some change o' the world and nothing else Contents you? Should whatever was not be? How thanklessly you view things! There's the root Of the evil, source of the entire mistake.

[496-500]

The Prince explains at length why the world (society) is such a worthy place, full of

good things, and deserves to be appreciated and saved. Everything is created by God

and none can presume to change "God's mistakes" [495]. However, as his advent has

proved, humanity and human values within the framework of society need to be

balanced and regulated. This is his answer to those critics who object to his role. He,

who sees dearest of all, understands the "natural economy" [355] of his society and lets

"stay therein what seems to stand" [374] to create "something equally smoothed

everywhere" [429]. His answer to those critics who disagree with his views and

Day": "In all God's acts - (as Plato cries / He doth) - he should geometrize" [91-92].

243

methodology is that since God and his creations are good, evil's place and role in

society has to function toward bringing about goodness, albeit indirectly.

The order whence comes all the good we know, With this, - good's last expression to our senses, - That there's a further good conceivable Beyond the utmost earth can realize: And, therefore, that to change the agency, The evil whereby good is brought about - Try to make good do as evil does- Were just as if a chemist, wanting white, And knowing black ingredients bred the dye, Insisted these too should be white forsooth! Correct the evil, mitigate your best, Blend mild with harsh, and soften black to grey If grey may follow with no detriment To the eventual perfect purity!

[624-35]

If this argument might suggest that the "hundred thousand fools" were supposed to

choose Barabas instead of Jesus Christ, the Prince demurs to answer. In God's creation

everything has its purpose; it is only a question of understanding its nature. One

cannot simply eradicate everything evil, "change the agency", without understanding the consequences of such an action on the whole structure of society. Society is like a "machine" with "diversely-moving parts" [466-67]; to remove, change, or replace any

part will cause a breakdown. He, of course, is the only one who has the vision and

ability to "impede", "regulate", "restrain", "help" [461,465,466,472] the parts in the

proper manner. The added bonus of such a view is the implication that even if some of the Prince's actions during his career may have seemed to be evil, they were working

toward something good. Misapplied analogy is another favourite method of Browning's casuists. Lancing a boil is painful but saves life; a coup d'etat causes

casualties but saves society. Thus the end justify the means - the politician's most

cherished motto 12 The Prince believes he has selflessly saved society ("Such was the

task imposed me" [648]); Browning believed Louis Napoleon's "stealing of the clock"

and refusal to announce the correct time had harmed society.

12 "Reveries Politiques" (Oeuvres, I, pp. 379-80): "But we must not forget that there are moments of crisis from which the country may not come out triumphant but for the genius of a Napoleon... for one needs a strong hand to bring down the despotism of servitude with the despotism of liberty, which saves the country by the same means which otherwise would have subjugated it"

244

Louis Napoleon's revolutionary youth, when he was "voice and nothing more" [784], had ended in failure and imprisonment. By 1848, one may assume, he had

reconsidered the practical potential of his ideals and had decided to achieve his ends by

presenting himself as the representative of stability and order. He heralded this change by volunteering (in London in April 1848) as one of the special constables created in

expectation of Chartist trouble. The following year, on a presidential visit to the fortress

of Ham, he expressed contrition for his past "temerite contre le lois de ma patrie". He

told his audience: "When one has seen how the most just revolutions drive evil in their

wake, one realises with pain the audacity of having wanted to assume oneself the

terrible responsibility of a change. "13 His rule symbolizes a dependable and desirable

system of government and a guiding hand which had been lacking since 1815:

In the midst of this confusion, France, uneasy because she sees no guidance, seeks the hand, the will of the elected of 10th of December.. .A whole system triumphed on 10th of December. For the name of Napoleon is by itself a whole programme. It means: for the interior, order, authority, religion, well-being of the people; for the exterior, national dignity.

He justified the re-establishment of the Empire by claiming that the country is already Bonapartist in essence:

For the past fifty years it has been the Napoleonic Code which has governed the interests and the interaction of the people; it has also been the concordat which has governed the relationship of the state with the church. In effect, the greater part of the measures that concern the progress of industry, commerce, art and culture-have been laid down by the decrees of that time.

Therefore, as a final re-affirmation of his anti-revolutionary position, "for the good of the country, it is not necessary to apply new systems, but to give, above all, confidence

13 "Quand on a vu combien les revolutions les plus justes entratnent de maux apres elles, on comprend ä peine 1'audace d'avoir voulu assumer sur soi la terrible reponsabilite d'un changement", Speech at Ham, 22 July 1849, Oeuvres, III, pp. 89-90. The Examiner reported that when the wardens jokingly reminded Louis Napoleon of his past residence with them, "To their astonishment Louis Napoleon replied, that he had been 'served right, ' and that for attacking an established government he had been justly punished. Now that he was a legitimate governor himself, he felt this! And he thought all pretenders, who disturbed the peace, great culprits... Louis Napoleon! This attempt at Ham throws all the humbug speeches of Louis- Philippe far into the shade", 28 July 1849, p. 467.

245

in the present, and security for the future. This is why France shows a desire to return

to the Empire. "14

The allure of tyranny depends much on human nature's preference to avoid

responsibility. To justify such moral cowardice the ruled collude with the ruler to the latter's aggrandizement. A recurring claim by Browning's characters is that leaders,

however, must possess (or seem to possess) an awe-inspiring quality, a talent that sets them apart and justifies their elevation. Ogniben described it as "a mysterious divining

rod" [II, 524]; the Pope, as "the lynx-gift" [1244]. Djabal knew that "All who seek /

Man's good must awe men" [IV. 138-39]. Browning's advice to George Bubb

Dodington was that whoever would use "Man for his pleasure needs must introduce /

The element that awes man" [188-90]. 15 Even though the statements of some of these

characters might contain some degree of irony, it is true that many leaders possess a gift

or ability which attracts followers. The Prince's whole argument is based on the fact of his unique strength of vision and understanding. Louis Napoleon benefited greatly from the power of the Napoleonic myth, and repeated the irresistible formula of mixing the "awe" with universal suffrage, to create an elected Hero.

Nineteenth-century Bonapartism is in many ways similar to the older systems of despotism. In the case of monarchy, for example, the sense of "awe" has simply

replaced the divine right of kings. The Prince is careful to benefit from the authority of

such ancestry. In his writings, Louis Napoleon often refers to Montesquieu. The Prince,

perhaps in return for the hospitality of his country of exile, uses Thomas Hobbes,

England's most famous political philosopher, monarchist, and one of the people who

14 "Au milieu de cette confusion, la France, inquiete parce qu'elle ne voit pas de direction, cherche la main, la volonte de Ulu de 10 decembre... Tout un systeme a triomphe au 10 decembre. Car le nom de Napoleon est ä lui seal tout un programme. Il veut dire: ä 1'interieur, ordre, autorite, religion, bien-etre du peuple; a 1'exterieur, dignite nationale", Message to the Assembly, 31 October 1849, Oeuvres, III, pp. 112-13. "Depuis cinquante ans c'est le Code Napoleon qui regle les intWts des citoyens entre eux; c'est encore le concordat qui regle les rapports de 1'$tat avec 1'Eglise. Enfin, la plupart des mesures qui concernent les progres de l'industrie, du commerce, des lettres, des sciences, des arts ... ont et@ fixees par les d4crets de ce temps", Preamble to the Constitution, 14 January 1852, Oeuvres, III, p. 290. "Pour faire le bien du pays, il nest pas besoin d'appliquer de nouveaux systemes; mais de dormer, avant tout, confiance dans le present, securite dens 1'avenir. Voilä pourquoi la France semble vouloir revenir ä rEmpire", Speech at Bordeaux, 9 October 1852, Oeuvres, III, p. 342. 15 This quality has various applications: "The preparations for the birth of the expected infant seemed laughable to some observers ... the three thousand women who crowded the approaches of the Tuileries when the imperial layette was exhibited furnished one more proof that Napoleon III, understands the weaknesses as well as the character of the French people", "Foreign & Domestic", Fraser's Magazine, 53 (1856), p. 496.

246

tried "to square the circle! " [49]. 16 Hobbes anticipated the notion of an elected despot

by describing the ideal commonwealth as one in which all people enter into a covenant

and submit their wills and judgments to the sovereign so that "he may use the strength

and means of them all, as he shall think expedient, for their peace and common

defence". The justification of the Second Empire according to Hobbes would be:

(1) The "illegal" coup d'etat

And this presumption of a future satisfaction, is sometimes necessary to the safety of a commonwealth; as in a sudden rebellion, any man that can suppress it by his own power in the country where it begins, without express law or commission, may lawfully do it, and provide to have it ratified, or pardoned, whilst it is in doing, or after it is done.

(2) Saviour of society and God's agent

The office of the sovereign... consisteth in the end, for which he was entrusted with the sovereign power, namely the procuration of the safety of the people; to which he is obliged by the law of nature, and to render an account thereof to God, the author of that law, and to none but him.

(4) Awe:

[Masses] have no other direction, than their particular judgments and appetites... [something else is] required, besides covenant, to make their agreement constant and lasting; which is a common power, to keep them in awe, and to direct their actions to the common benefit.

(5) Dynastic ambitions:

[In a commonwealth it has been decided] by a degree of the sovereign people to pass the sovereignty to one man named and approved by plurality of suffrage. And if this sovereignty be truly and indeed transferred, the estate of commonwealth is an absolute monarchy, wherein the monarch is at liberty, to dispose as well of the succession, as of the possession, and not an elective kingdom. 17

16 "Quadratura Circuli", Opera Philosophica, ed. by William Molesworth, 5 vole (Longman, 1839- 45), N, pp. 489-93. Louis Napoleon had studied the Stuart period to some extent. See "Politiques des Stuarts", Oeuvres, I, pp. 280-328; PHW, I, pp. 419-50. 17 The English Works of Thomas Hobbs, ed. by William Molesworth, 11 vols (Bohn, 1839-45), N [Elements of Law], p. 158. III [Leviathan], pp. 708-09. III, p. 322. III, pp. 156-57. N, pp. 142-43.

247

Browning's poem is not a political handbook; the emphasis is on political

philosophy, not practice. Browning is not concerned with offering solutions to the

difficulties which faced Louis Napoleon. He is not interested in explaining how Louis

Napoleon could have acted had he surrendered his legal authority and power-base at

the termination of his presidency. Browning barely hints at the important issues

involved in deciding the fate of the Papacy -a problem Louis Napoleon never managed

to solve. Robert Lytton wrote to Browning in 1861:

Odo Russell, I have been told, saw the Empr of the French when he passed through Paris, and told H. M. that it was in his power to settle the Roman Quest" at once-he had only to withdraw his troops and everyone wd be satisfied. The Er replied, My dear Sir, it is in my power to open that window and throw myself out of it head foremost. And no doubt that wd afford satisfaction to a great many people. But it is also in my power not to do it. And I tell you that if I were to withdraw my troops, the Pope wd be insulted -and the Cathc Population of France wd not stand that. 18

He might have added that the Empress (who was Spanish and very Catholic) would not have allowed it. Not to mention the Catholic nations which whether from a sense of

genuine piety or political opportunism would have felt obliged to invade and defend

the Pope. If Browning's choice of emphasis seems to be a weakness of the poem, it

should be remembered that his primary objective is to refute the means/ends argument

on which the Prince has based the justification of his career. For Browning Louis

Napoleon was wrong at a fundamental level. He was wrong to break the law or his

word for short-term gain.

Browning

The least unsatisfactory way to describe Browning's politics is to call him a liberal. The

Longman editors define the nineteenth-century Liberal ("crudely") as one who "stood

for reform and a development towards equality" -as opposed to a Conservative, who

stood for the opposite. 19 He believed the aim and duty of each individual is to grow

and improve to the best of his abilities. His aim as a poet was to trace and affect this

18 23 October, Owen Memdith, pp. 192-93.

248

growth. The emphasis of much of his poetry was "on the incidents in the development

of a soul; little else is worth study" 20 Browning's political sensibility demanded a

system that most allowed the individual the space and freedom to follow his path. He

believed the best system of government is a democracy that provides the most amount

of freedom with the least amount of interference. He encapsulated this view in his

sonnet, "Why I am a Liberal" (1885):

"Why? " Because all I haply can and do, All that I am now, all Ihope tobe, - Whence comes it save from fortune setting free

Body and soul the purpose to pursue, God traced for both? If fetters, not a few,

Of prejudice, convention, fall from me, These shall I bid men, each in his degree

Also God-guided-bear, and gaily too?

But little do or can the best of us: THAT LITTLE IS ACHIEVED THROUGH LIBERTY.

Who, then, dares hold-emancipated thus- His fellow shall continue bound? Not I,

Who live, love, labour freely, nor discuss A brother's right to freedom. That is "Why. "

Liberalism allows body and soul to achieve their full potential. It allows man to "live,

love, labour freely" without the need to "discuss /A brother's right to freedom". How

can one who has lost the "fetters" of "prejudice" and "convention" begrudge the same to his fellow human being? The system which allows men to extend the same courtesy to each other as God does to each individual by allowing him the freedom to improve.

I have used the word "unsatisfactory" because Browning can best be described as having political tendencies rather than tenets. The sonnet is far from being a confident

celebration of a political stance. 21 The tone is at best grudgingly optimistic. There is an

underlying sense of dissatisfaction in the repetition of "all" in "All that I am now, all I hope to W. The degree of achievement itself is then put into doubt by the strong

conditional "If': the loss of one's "fetters" does not seem to be a certainty. By the time

one reaches and realizes "little do or can the best of us" (with "little" repeated in the

19 woolfo d and Karlin, p. 159. See chapter on Browning's politics, pp. 157-186. A general survey of Browning's political thought can be found in Trevor Lloyd, "Browning and Politics", Writers and Their Background: Robert Browning, ed. by Isobel Armstrong (Bell, 1974), pp. 142-67. 20 From the dedication of the 1863 edition of Sordello to Milsand, LAEP, I, p. 353. 21 Woolford and Karlin, pp. 163-64.

249

next line), and even that is due to "fortune", the tone seems to be one of resignation -

more "In Memoriam" than "Rabbi Ben Ezra".

"Why I am a Liberal', written when Browning was seventy-three, is in part a

product of Browning's preference for political tendencies. Its application can be seen in

his attitude to Rome. Browning believed that some form of a democratically elected

government best fulfils the needs of society, but the actual form would depend on the

situation. Browning was very angry at the French intervention in Rome. 22 At the same

time he believed Italy was not yet ready for a republic, and unlike the speaker of "Old

Picture in Florence", did not view the Mazzinian plans for a republican Italy as a new desirable dawn:

Shall I be alive that morning the scaffold Is broken away, and the long-pent fire

Like the golden hope of the world unbaffled Springs from its sleep, and up goes the spire -

As, "God and the People" plain for its motto, Thence the new tricolor flaps at the sky?

[281-86]

He viewed it as "folly or madness" and deserving of "miserable marplots". 23 He

believed the peninsula's territorial and cultural divisions, and the level of the

population's political education need the unifiying influence of a constitutional

monarch. The sonnet also refers to certain recurring themes in Browning's works. His belief

in the Liberal policy of least interference is based on his attitude towards leaders,

society, and the conditions of its development. Society is bound by fetters of prejudice

and convention. It continuously needs to evolve by meeting its challenges and learning

from its mistakes. Leaders should be able to provide the necessary freedom for society's development. Browning implies the importance of this responsibility by usually depicting the people living under authoritarian rule as in need of improvement. The

speaker of the "The Patriot" is being led to his execution, rejected by the same people

who celebrated his triumph the previous year. The Druses are shown to be mostly

concerned with self-interest and the pursuit of wealth; they are as "uninstructed" and "untrusted" [V. 124-25]. Chiappino sees the town's inhabitants as "born slaves, bred

22 Kenyon, I, 420. 23 Dearest Isa, p. 136, p. 160.

250

slaves" [I. 270] who prefer to continue in their sleep of ignorance and misery [I. 222].

Efforts on their behalf, if unsuccessful, would result in stoning [I. 287]; if successful,

would be met with suspicion and ingratitude: "I had, they'll say, / Doubtless some

unknown compensating pride / In what I did" [I. 224-26].

The sense of the inadequacy of society is a reflection of its rulers -whom Browning

generally viewed with deep suspicion. Strafford's "Put not your trust / In Princes,

neither in the sons of men, / In whom is no salvation! " [V. 2.194-6] is echoed by

Browning thirty years later: "put not your trust in princes neither in the sons of men, - Emperors, Popes, Garibaldis, or Mazzinis-the plating wears through, and out comes

the copperhead of human nature & weakness and falseness too! "24 Browning's most

extreme expression of untrustworthy politicians performing in dysfunctional societies is

parleying "With George Bubb Dodington", in which a self-serving politician gives

advice on how best to win over a cynical and "shrewd" [123] populace -"craftsman versed as they" [125]. The traditional "trick" [158] of "managing with skill the rabble-

rout" [87] consisted of

Making them understand - their heaven, their hell, Their every hope and fear is ours as well. Man's cause -what other can we have at heart?

[90-92]

This no longer works because the people see themselves as the politician's equal; their

nature is not to submit to one who is not their superior:

Such wit as one you boast is nowise held The wonder once it was, but, paralleled Too plentifully, counts not, -puts to shame Modest possessors like yourself who claim, By virtue of it merely, power and place -Which means the sweets of office.

[176-81]

The "key to domination" [188] is to use "guile" [255] to confuse and perplex: a "Mock-

modest boldness masked in diffidence" [214]; "An air of imperturbability" covering "innocence or impudence" [236-37]. The trick is to deny superiority, possession of special talents, or any inherent sense of altruism but in such an artless manner that

24 9 August 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 341.

251

would makes the people believe the opposite. They will convince themselves that

"imposture plays another game" [250]:

What if the man have - who knows how or whence? - Confederate potency unguessed by us - Prove no such cheat as he pretends?

[215-17]

The worst kind of politician for Browning was one who prevented the natural development of society. He hated despots; he hated even more despots, like the

Bonapartes, who wanted to perpetuate their sin dynastically. For him Napoleon

Bonaparte had acted "quite as falsely, as selfishly and cruelly" as Guido. 25 EBB

mentions that Browning "always hated the Buonapartists". 26 The first of the two

previous mentions of Louis Napoleon in Browning's poetry occurs in "A Lovers'

Quarrel" and sets the tone:

What's in the "Times? " -a scold At the emperor deep and cold;

He has taken a bride To his gruesome side,

That's as fair as himself is bold: There they sit ermine-stoled,

And she powders her hair with gold.

The Emperor is depicted as a "gruesome" despot abusing the wealth of his country. The second is in "Apparent Failure" and is only slightly less irreverent. He remembers the ceremony of the Crown Prince's baptism

Seven years since, I passed through Paris, stopped a day

To see the baptism of your Prince; Saw, made my bow, went my way:

Walking the heat and headache off. [1-5]

2*5 22 February 1869, Robert Browning and Julia Wedgewood, ed. by Richard Curle (John Murray, 1937), p. 188. 26 30 December 1851, Elizabeth Barnett Browning's Letters to Mrs David Ogilvy 1849-1861, ed. by Peter N. Heydon and Philip Kelley (John Murray, 1974), p. 63. And three months later (18 March 1852): "Robert says frankly that having a 'personal hatred' to the man (& the blood, he might add) he has not patience to analyze things very closely", p. 73.

252

As a guest, he is polite enough and thinks mildly of the headache the spectacle has

given him.

Still Browning tries to search for some justification and redemption. He is very

specific, when describing the poem to his friends, that his aim has been to present the

best possible defence of Louis Napoleon. "I put forward what excuses I thought he was likely to make for himself, if inclined to try", he told Edith Story; and to Isa Blagden that

the poem is "just what I imagine" Louis Napoleon "might, if he pleased, say for

himself". 28 But he is telling half the truth. Browning himself features prominently

within the poem-albeit somewhat hidden. I would like to show how Browning uses

the ironical elements in the poem's motto, title, and allusions to imply his own opinion

and position concerning the speaker. (The problem of authorial interference is resolved by having the Prince's own allusions turned against him. )

The motto and the title are, of course, the poet's territory. In the poem's title the

Prince is proclaimed as a saviour, and he is one among many in the poem who in one

way or another affect and/or are affected in their positions as "saviours" of their

societies. Browning's verdict emerges under the rules of Dramatic Irony: both the

author and the character utilize the same allusions, but the Prince is unaware that his

allusions bring in more than he intended and that they can be turned against him. Like

Oedipus, the more he seeks to justify himself, the more he manages to damn himself.

The name "Hohenstiel-Schwangau", which can be associated with Louis Napoleon

in various ways, was the suggestion of Browning's friend, William Cartwright, who

shared Browning's politics and was an amateur linguist (his mother was Bavarian). 29

Louis Napoleon had grown up in Bavaria and Switzerland and never quite lost his

German accent (hence "Residenz", not "Residence") 30 Hohenstiel-Schwangau can be

deciphered in two ways. "Hohen" is a prefix that relates to height; "stiel" can mean

27 Another mention of Louis Napoleon is in Red Cotton Night-Cap Country [134-36]: And, woe's me, still placards the Emperor His confidence in war he means to wage, God aiding and the rural populace.

28 1 January 1872, American Friends, p. 167; 19 January 1872, Dearest Isa, p. 372. 29 Hood, p. 356, it. 71: 9-2. 30 An acquaintance wrote that the accent was the first thing he noticed at their first meeting: "The 'I am pleased to see you, sir, ' with which he welcomed me, holding out his hand at the same time, was the English of an educated German who had taken great pains to get the right accent and pronunciation, without, however, completely succeeding; and when I heard him speak French, I detected at once his constant struggle with the same difficulties. " Vandam, II, p. 8.

253

�stem", "stalk", "shaft', "handle"; "Schwang" from "schwingen", means "swing" or

"brandish". Taken together, they suggest-in C. H. Herford's words-a "flower still

hanging free on its lofty stalk", but "swung to and fro by many a passing wind" 31 The

image also suggests lack of initiative and indecisiveness, in line with accusations of

inaction. 32 In the poem the Prince, himself, makes the joke about his name:

Is your choice made? Why then, act up to choice! Leave the illogical touch now here now there I' the way of work, the tantalizing help First to this then the other opposite: The blowing hot and cold, sham policy, Sure ague of the mind and nothing more, Disease of the perception or the will, That fain would hide in a fine name!

[797-804)

Granting liberal concessions in 1867, Louis Napoleon wrote:

The end I am seeking must be resolutely traced, without appearing to be dragged year by year to successive concessions; for we always fall, as M. Guizot remarked, on the side to which we lean. I wish to advance firmly in a straight line, without oscillating to the right or left. 33

The other interpretation is derived by concentrating on "Schwan" ("swan") and

"gau" ("district" or "province") 34 Hugo mentions that the grounds of the imperial

retreat at Compiegne, where Louis Napoleon regularly entertained, was full of swans

("Prince, Compiegne est plein de cygnes"). 35 I have found two instances where Paris is

likened to a swan: "Te voilä toute neuve et blanche comme un cygne, / Vraiment

31 Charles H Herford, "Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau", Browning Society Papers, 2 (1885-90), 133- 45 (p. 137). 32 NSo far from inflexible tenacity and fixity of purpose, there are signs which indicate that his policy varies and oscillates from day to day, even from hour to hour", Thoughts on the Treaty of Commerce with France (Ridgway, 1860), p. 20. The Emperor "could have marched to Frankfort almost unopposed, he hesitated, gave the Prussians time to bring up their forces to the French frontier", Spender, Fall of the Second Empire, p. 26. "He wants, as usual, to serve God & the Devil", 19 October 1868, Dearest Isa, p. 302. 33 To Emile Ollivier, 12 January 1867, Jerrold, IV, pp. 383-84. The Times, 21 January 1867, p. 7. 34 Florentine, DC, p. 277. 35 "L'Empereur s'amuse", C'hätiments, p. 79,1.12.

254

imperiale, et de Lui presque digne. 36 The other is EBB's description in Aurora Leigh [VI,

98-99] where she implies that Paris is the land-swan: "The city swims in verdure,

beautiful / As Venice on the waters, the sea-swan. "

The notion of a swan-prince alludes to the favourite resort of another dreamer and

swan-prince, Ludwig II of Bavaria - the castle of Hohenschwangau. As a teenager

Louis Napoleon pursued studies at Augsburg, Bavaria for four years, and the family

home at Arenenburg on lake Constance was only eighty miles west of the castle. 37 The

region of Schwangau was traditionally known as Swan Country, the district of the

medieval order of the Knights of the Swan, and the castle attributed to the first knight,

Hiltebold von Schwangau. The walls of the castle were decorated with the legends of

the Grail and the Swan-Knight Lohengrin who, according to legend, had lived in the

castle. There were swans everywhere, on the lakes, on the wallpaper, on vases, and

bric-ä-brac. Ludwig liked to dress as the Swan-Knight, lived in a fantasy world, and

died insane. In November 1865 Wagner had visited the castle, and the scene of the

arrival of Lohengrin on the swan-boat was enacted on a large artificial lake. In July

36"Here you are all new and white like a swan, / Truly imperial, and almost worthy of Him", Edouard Monod [Roger Delorme], A l'auteur de la vie de Cesar (Paris: Dentu, 1865), p. 6. 37 Jerrold, I, p. 114. Fifty-five miles Southwest of Munich, near the town of Fussen, Hohenschwangau was restored in the 1830s by Maximillian II (1848-64) and was popular with visitors. Grieben's Guide Books, vol. 130, Munich and the Royal Castles of Bavaria (Berlin: Griehen- Verlag, 1931), pp. 153-54.

: ýr. ý. ý: ý; yý . s. ýcsrrsY . vý;. c.

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1867 Ludwig visited Louis Napoleon who took him on a tour of Versailles and the Medieval Castle of Pierrefonds which Viollet-le-Duc had restored at Louis Napoleon's

instigation. (Ludwig was very impressed and was inspired to begin Neuschwanstein in

1869. )38

A swan-prince also suggests a ruler with swan-like disposition. In western cultural tradition the swan sings beautifully before its death; and, according to the Pythagorean

fable, it is the recipient of the souls of all good poets since, in one Greek legend, the soul

of Apollo passed into a swan. 39 The Prince, at the end of his career, produces his own

swan song. The Prince does not approve of poets, and so renounces the benefits of the

allusion. One may recall the proverb, "all his geese are swans", which puts doubt on the honesty and veracity of the Prince's "swan song". This use of the swan imagery can be seen in "Pietro of Abano", published nine years after Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, as a sort of allusion in retrospect. In the poem a young pretender wants to learn Pietro's

magical secrets. Sounding suspiciously like the Prince, he claims that he is a swan to

the common people's geese.

Geese may gabble, Gorge, and keep the ground: but swans are soon for quitting Earthly fare-as fain would I, your swan, if taught the way.

[254-56]

He shows his credentials and claims his intentions are altruistic.

"'Mark within my eye its iris mystic-lettered - That's my name! And note my ear-its swan-shaped cavity, my emblem!

Mine's the swan-like nature born to fly unfettered Over land and sea in search of knowledge-food for song Art denied the vulgar! Geese grow fat on barley, Swans require aetherial provend, undesirous to resemble 'em- Soar to seek Apollo, - favoured with a parley Such as, Master, you grant me-who will not hold you long.

"Leave to learn to sing -for that your swan petitions:

38 Joseph Hormayr [Baron von Hortenburg], Die Goldene chronik von Hohenschwangau (München: Franz, 1842), pp. 6-10. Wilfrid Blunt, The Dream King (Hamish Hamilton, 1970), p. 15, pp. 62-63, p. 105. "When he was only a small boy, Ludwig showed a tendency to indulge in waking dreams which later became a fatal habit', Frances Gerard, The Romance of Ludwig II. of Bavaria (Hutchinson, 1899), p. 4. Athenaeum, 2 December 1865, p. 774,16 December 1865, p. 852. 39 Bp's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, ed. by Ivor H. Evans, 14th edn (Cassell, 1989), pp. 1069-70.

256

Master, who possess the secret, say not nay to such a suitor! All I ask is-bless mine, purest of ambitions! Grant me leave to make my kind wise, free, and happy! How? just by making me - as you are mine - their model! Geese have goose-thoughts: make a swan their teacher first, then co-

adjutor, - Let him introduce swan-notions to each noddle, - Geese will soon grow swans, and men become what I am now!

[73-88]

The pretender, like the Prince, believes in a division of talent and that he has that

special quality, the swan-nature, which marks him as a ruler. His plea to Pietro is:

"Teach me, then, to rule men, have them at my pleasure! / Solely for their good, of

course" [257-8]. 40 An echo of the Prince's, "For their good and my pleasure in the act"

[282]. Pietro with a magic trick proves that the man is a self-serving fraud and sends

him on his way.

In Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau Browning sets the tone of ridicule, before the poem

even begins, with the motto:

I slew the Hydra, and from labour passed To labour -tribes of labours! Till, at last, Attempting one more labour, in a trice, Alack, with ills I crowned the edifice.

The quotation is Browning's translation of a passage from the Herakles of Euripides.

The event referred to is the maddened Herakles' killing of his family after performing

the last of his twelve labours. Browning's other version of the same passage, from

Aristophanes' Apology ("But then I, -wretch, -dared this last labour-see! / Slew my

sons, keystone-coped my house with ills")41 shows that he intentionally incorporated

the Emperor's crowning of the edifice into the translation. Herakles is the greatest protector and saviour of mankind in legend. In Euripides'

play Herakles' labours and achievements are listed and he is heralded as a "pioneer of

civilization". 42 He then arrives dramatically (first seen from a distance and gradually

getting closer) at the last moment to save his family who have been taken hostage in his

40 "Swans have long been an appanage of royalty not to be owned by the commonalty, being themselves supreme above the herd of bird-kind. The Greek associates them here with leadership as a birthright", Florentine, XI, p. 318, n. 76. 41 [4910-11]. The poem includes a translation of the play. 42 Euripides, Heracles, ed. by Godfrey W. Band (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), p. xxvii.

257

absence -only to end up murdering them. With this image of one of the greatest

saviours of society in mind, the reader is immediately confronted with another saviour,

in the title of Browning's poem. As the poem progresses and the Prince continues his

list of "labours" and achievements, the suspense grows in anticipation of disaster. The

analogy with the madness of Herakles and his "thirteenth labour" becomes more

specific. He describes his career so far as "the dozen volumes of my life" [1226]. His

final act, the sending of the letter, will be his final labour - the unlucky thirteenth.

Herakles' downfall was the result of his being maddened by Juno; the source of the

Prince's "madness" is whatever decided him to send the letter and cause the death of

society (his symbolic children).

The Prince is constantly emphasizing the point that his efforts at maintaining

society were worthwhile:

Well, my work reviewed Fairly, leaves more hope than discouragement. First, there's the deed done: what I found, I leave, - What tottered, I kept stable: if it stand One month, without sustainment, still thank me The twenty years' sustainer!

[706-11]

It is just as important and necessary to retain and preserve as it is to create; but it is less

spectacular, and, hence, leads to ingratitude and accusations of inaction. To make his

point, the Prince compares Herakles with Atlas:

Now, observe, Sustaining is no brilliant self-display Like knocking down or even setting up: Much bustle these necessitate; and still To vulgar eye, the mightier of the myth Is Hercules, who substitutes his own For Atlas' shoulder and supports the globe A whole day, -not the passive and obscure Atlas who bore, ere Hercules was born, And is to go on bearing that same load When Hercules turns ash on Oeta's top.

[711-21]

Atlas is a worthy subject of association since through his labour the world (society)

is saved from destruction. However Atlas supports the sky not through inclination but

258

as punishment for taking part in the revolt of the Titans. He even tried to permanently lay his burden on Herakles through deception. His lack of hospitality caused Perseus to

turn him into stone using the head of Medusa. Atlas' image of a saviour, looked at

closely, shows a subversive, unhappy trickster.

Sustaining involves making "what was crooked straight, and roughness smooth"

[399]. That is his task "as man o' the moment, -in default /Of someone inspired to

strike such change" [390-91]. The line alludes to the voice that cried in the wilderness

to prepare the way of the lord, when "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain

and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight; and the rough

ways shall be made smooth" 43 The Prince is preparing society for the ultimate Hero,

Christ.

To shoot a beam into the dark, assists: To make that beam do fuller service, spread And utilize such bounty to the height, That assists also, - and that work is mine.

[356-59]

He is a source of light, like Lucifer, another who, like Atlas, revolted against his society. At the end of the poem, with the coming of dawn, he realizes the truth that

Somehow the motives, that did well enough I' the darkness, when you bring them into light Are found, like those famed cave-fish, to lack eye And organ for the upper magnitudes.

[2106-09]

He confesses that he has realized his real motives were not truly based on the wish to "renovate a people" [2115], but on "lust o' the flesh" and "pride of life" [2118-19],

which marks him as a follower of "that prince o' the power o' the air" [2120]. 44 The

Prince clearly has supernatural pretensions, whether as God or God's emissary. Even

his two titles have divine connotations: "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour" [Acts 5.31]. Browning's poem traces the fall of the Prince

43 Luke 3.4-5, quoting Isaiah 40.3-4. 44 Ephesians 2.2-3: "Wherein, in time past, ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh. "

259

from divine, at the beginning of the poem, to damned, at the end. "For such are false

apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no

marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" [II Corinthians 11.13-

14]. The Prince has played the devil to society's Jesus. His critics remind him that man does not live "by bread alone, / As somebody says somewhere" [898-99]. His

temptations, however, have been effective. His emphasis on food, safety, wealth and

glory (the very things the devil offered to Christ [Matthew 4.3-10]) has led to the

moral/ spiritual stagnation and the destruction of society. 45

Browning's directly expressed views towards Louis Napoleon are less damning. In

a letter to Isa Blagden, with the war over, Louis Napoleon in exile, and the poem in

print, Browning summed up his feelings towards the Emperor:

By this time you have got my little book and seen for yourself whether I make the best or worst of the case. I think in the main, he meant to do what I say, and, but for the weakness, -grown more apparent in these last years than formerly, would have done what I say he did not. I thought badly of him in the beginning of his career, et pour cause; better afterwards, on the strength of promises he made, and gave indications of intending to redeem, -I think him very weak in the last miserable year. At his worst I prefer him to Thiers' best 46

The reference to Thiers shows that Browning did not think of Louis Napoleon as duplicitous, but as one with worthy intentions who failed to achieve his promise. The

most prominent impression one gets from Browning's correspondence is a sense of frustration: hopes raised through Louis Napoleons promises and dashed by his actions; decrees towards liberal freedom countered by needs of political expediency. Browning

was capable of a kind word and praise when deserved. When Palmerston, in the Commons, vindicated Louis Napoleon of the charge of being responsible for the

shortening of Garibaldi's tour of Britain in 1864, Browning told his son, "You see by Ld.

P's speech last night that this new crime of the poor Emperor's was another pure

45 The Prince has - unconsciously -described his advent as "interference... from hell itself" [2068]. See Chapter 5, n. 118. The warnings of the "pendele" [2073] and the "worship of that prince o' the power o' the air" [2120] are emphatic to those familiar with the end of Faustus:

the clock will strike, The devil will come, and Faustus must be damned... It strikes, it strikes! Now body turn to air, Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell.

Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, ed. by Roma Gill (Ernest Benn, 1965), V. 2.141-42,181-82. 46 29 December 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 371.

260

invention. "47 In other issues Browning always tried to judge Louis Napoleon fairly. He

agreed that society had benefited from "the civil talent of the man" 48 Despite the

disappointment of Villafranca, he conceded (reported his sister) that "the Emperor has

done immense good to Italy, and if he could follow out his own inclinations would do

still more" 49 Despite his anger at the French occupation of Rome, Browning truly

believed that Louis Napoleon was sincere in his desire to resolve the situation. When

Louis Napoleon, while trying to convince the Pope to give up his temporal power,

changed his anti-clerical Foreign Minister in favour of one sympathetic to the Pope,

Browning "observed a wise principle in Louis Napoleon". He explained how when

Louis Napoleon wants a problematic task accomplished,

he entrusts it invariably to a man of opposite feeling if not principle - and thereby secures himself from the danger of too much zeal, and by the procedures of the unwilling instrument, -his manners, representations & diplomacy in accordance with his personal predilections, breaks the blow and half conciliates the party that has to suffer from the naked measures themselves -which are of course quite enough to satisfy the other party which benefits by them.

He saw the ministerial change as evidence of Louis Napoleon's seriousness in

accomplishing his aim. "The more I reflect, the more hopeful I grow", he concluded. 50

But Louis Napoleon did not manage to force the issue one way or another. In 1867,

after the French troops were forced to fight Garibaldi and resume their defence of the

Papal States (and break another "generation's heart' [1594]), Browning was exasperated

and heart broken. He told Isa Blagden:

I can't bear to think of any part of the whole mass of lies & intrigues, -! like no one man engaged in the matter, the King & Emperor not a bit more than Garibaldi: well, it seems ordained that if you believe in heroes you will be sorry for it, sooner or later. I have of course heard other versions of the thing, different from yours, - don't know & hardly care what is the true, so bad is the best 51

47 20 April 1864, MS at Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. Hansard, 174 (1864), pp. 1290-91. 48 19 August 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 343. 49 13 September 1860, Letters to Allingham, p. 116. 50 18 October 1862, Dearest Isa, p. 131. 5119 November 1867, Dearest Isa, p. 284.

261

Browning was certain that Louis Napoleon's "deference to the priests has brought him

just the fruits he deserved": if he had "kept his word to Italy.. . he would have had an

Italian army to help him" against Prussia 52

However frustrating and excruciating the Italian question had proved, it was the

war with Prussia which Browning found unforgivable. Sensing war to be almost

inevitable, he "felt profoundly disappointed in & sorry for the Emperor, who has lost,

too certainly, splendid opportunities" to achieve peace. -3 After war was declared-

"'because his wife plagued him and 'something' must be done to brighten matters at the

end of his life"M-he decided Louis Napoleon "should simply be blotted out of the

world as the greatest failure on record" .O "Not one human being could venture to

approve the conduct of the Emperor-for what was ever more palpably

indefensibler'56 But Browning conceded that Louis Napoleon bears the blame because

of his position of authority -"morally, everybody from the highest to the lowest is as

blamable as he" 57 He also pointed out that "there has been no knavery, only decline &

fall of the faculties corporeal & mental: these came to their height ten years ago: since

then he has been sinking into all the ordinary ways of the vulgar king" 58 "He is not,

nor ever was, a devil, -only a weaker mortal than one's respect for human nature

thought conceivable when given such splendid opportunities for good. "59 Louis

Napoleon's lot "was only to be nearly a great man" 60 He disappointed most because

he did not live up to his promise (and promises): "we all, in our various degrees, took

the man on trust, believed in his will far too long after the deed was miserably

inadequate to what we supposed the will; but when the mask fell and we found a lazy

old and worn-out voluptuary had neglected every duty, ignored every necessity". In

short, at the end of his career, he could best be described as a "wretched impostor" who

had wasted his chances and done more harm than good to society. 61 Browning

condemned Louis Napoleon unreservedly on one point only: "I never, when liking

5219 August 1870,19 October 1870, Dearest Isa, pp. 342-43, p. 348. 53 19 October 1868, Dearest Isa, p. 302. 54 23 January 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 356. 55 19 October 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 347. 5' 19 August 1870, p. 344. 5719 August 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 343. M 19 October 1870, Dearest Isa, pp. 347-48. 59 25 April 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 357. 60 19 October 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 348.

262

Napoleon most, sympathized a bit with his dynastic ambition for his son, -who has no

sort of right to be anybody in France. "62 The condemnation was especially poignant

because Browning believed that towards the end of the Emperor's reign, an old and sick

Louis Napoleon was manipulated with the fate of "'the dynasty' dangled before his

nose by the verminous people about him" 63

For Browning moral weakness and self-interest-nourished by physical deterioration-were the main reasons for the Emperor failure. Louis Napoleon's poor

health was an open secret, and Browning always took that into consideration as much

as possible in making his assessments. "There seems every likelihood that Napoleon is

far from his old self", he told Isa Blagden at the time of the war. And to Edith Story,

soon after the poem's publication

I don't think so much worse of the character as shown us in the last few years, because I suppose there to be a physical and intellectual decline of faculty, brought about by the man's own faults, no doubt- but I think he struggles against these. M

Because of Browning's concern with "the development of a soul", he ends the poem

before the Prince can realize that few will thank him "The twenty years' sustainer"

[711]. This allows the Prince to pass judgement on himself, and confront the personal

reasons behind his actions. Louis Napoleon swore to protect the Republic. He insisted

that he had to momentarily break his oath because society was in danger and the

extraordinary circumstances demanded it. He promised to restore power to the people,

to return the town clock, "later", when the disturbances were appeased and the people

were prepared for such responsibility. It took him eighteen years to begin to keep his

promise, a delay which proved so disastrous. The owner of the best "optics" in Europe

would not have confiscated time and hesitated for so long. The reader knows the

ultimate results of the implementation of Louis Napoleon's political philosophy. That is

precisely why at the conclusion of the poem,, the Prince questions and condemns only his motives. "You see 't is easy in heroics! " [2088]: he is not referring specifically to the

6123 January 1871, Dearest Isa, p. 356. 62 19 July 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 340. In the poem, the Head-servant uses the example of the Clitumnian priesthood to show that in some societies even a deliberate act of murder is sometimes justified if it ensures that succession is based on merit, not blood [2001-08]. 63 19 October 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 348. 64 19 August 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 342.1 January 1872, American Friends, p. 167.

263

results of his defence, but rather to the explanations of motives, of means and ends.

When "one ceases to soliloquize" [2105], one realizes that, deep down, it was all, to a

great extent, for selfish reasons. All the justifications, all the casuistry, pale in

to insignificance Beside one intimatest fact- myself Am first to be considered, since I live Twenty years longer and then end, perhaps!

[2101-04]

This leaves unanswered the question of whether the Prince also condemns his

means. In other words, does he ultimately come to the conclusion that, whatever his

motives, democracy is preferable to personal government, and his views on the way

society should be governed are flawed? Does he come to refute his uncle's dictum that

everything should be done for the people, nothing by the people? 65 Browning,

certainly, did not believe in Imperial rule: "The 'benefits of his reign' are just the

extravagant interest which a knavish banker pays you for some time till he, one fine

day, decamps with the principal, -and then where are you? "66 I have shown the flaws

in the arguments the Prince has used to justify his lofty station, but it is not possible to

know from the poem whether he is being deliberately casuistic in defending his

political philosophy. His self-awareness and control during his dramatic monologue

prevent the reader from knowing the level of his veracity. The only comments he

makes on his performance is that one tends to use language to "equalize the odds"

[2132]; and that he has subordinated "Claims from without that take too high a tone"

[2098] in favour of more defensible ones. Neither of which is conclusive in determining

the Prince's view of his actions. Most likely he is not certain himself, because he is still

in power and might never have to decamp with society's principal. Political

conclusions, therefore, will depend on the reader's own political views.

65 Proclamation at Bayonne. Earl Russell, Speeches and Despatches, 2 vole (Longmans, Green, 1870), II, p. 233. 66 19 OctDber 1870, Dearest Isa, p. 347.

264

To be fair to the Prince, he has kept his promise and answered the riddle of

"Sphynx". The sending of the letter is his (symbolic) suicide. It is also proof of his

ultimate failure. The letter could have stayed; he could have apologized for the selfish

delay in returning the clock (even if it was not the same clock of the republic) and

bravely accepted the consequences.

Djabal accepts that "there was ill I' '1 Iý I

ý1ýI y'IýýI

crime, and must be punishment",

but he is "saved" through Anael's

"treachery": "'T is well-I have

deserved this -I submit. " At the

end: "I perish-yet do I, can I

repent! " [V. 264]. Colombe is

"saved" by choosing love over

fi ;; If power; Strafford by his response to

his betrayal by the King: "I forgive ij

im from my soul" [V. 2.172]. him

These are "incidents in the ;y,, kf'111'

development of a soul" where, in

each case there is spiritual

progression. The Prince almost

achieves redemption. Even though

self-analysis and internal debate have resulted in something unpalatable - that the

Prince is a trickster after all, that his primary motives were self-serving, not altruistic - he appears to have redeemed himself spiritually by his confession. But his contrition

finds no resolution in action; he misses his chance. The moment passes and he

characteristically (defensively) reverts back to the language of games: "Twenty years are

good gain, come what come will! / Double or quits! The letter goes! Or stays? " The

Prince does not have the moral strength to learn and benefit from his confession.

Another, less charitable, interpretation could be that the Prince does not have the desire

to alter his ways. There is no positive "development of the soul". He leaves the fate of

society to chance. The conclusion of the poem perfectly encapsulates Browning's

verdict that Louis Napoleons destiny "was only to be nearly a great man".

265

Bibliography

Section I

Browning Aristophanes' Apology (Smith, Elder, 1875) Balaustion's Adventure (Smith, Elder, 1871) Bells and Pomegranates, 8 vols (Moxon, 1841-46) Dramatic Idyls: Second Series (Smith, Elder, 1880) Dramatis Personae (Chapman and Hall, 1864) Fifine at the Fair (Smith, Elder, 1872) Men and Women, 2 vols (Chapman and Hall, 1855) Parleyings With Certain People of Importance in Their Day (Smith, Elder, 1887) Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society (Smith, Elder, 1871) Red Cotton Night-Cap Country (Smith, Elder, 1873) The Ring and the Book, 4 vols (Smith, Elder, 1868-69) Strafford. A Tragedy (Longman, 1837)

Manuscripts Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society, Balliol College, Oxford, Cat. no. 387 The Ring and the Book, British Library, Add. MSS, 43485,43486

EBB Aurora Leigh (Chapman and Hall, 1857) Casa Guidi Windows (Chapman and Hall, 1851) Poems Before Congress (Chapman and Hall, 1860)

Editions The Complete Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ed. by Charlotte Porter & Hellen A.

Clarke, 6 vols (New York: Crowell, 1900) The Complete Works of Robert Browning, ed. by Charlotte Porter & Hellen A. Clarke

[Florentine Edition], 12 vols (New York: Crowell, 1898) The Complete Works of Robert Browning, Roma A. King, gen. ed. (Athens: Ohio University

Press, 1969-) The Poems of Browning, ed. by john Woolford and Daniel Karlin (Longman, 1991-) The Poetical Works of Robert Browning, 16 voll (Smith, Elder, 1888-89) Robert Browning: The Poems, ed. by john Pettigrew and Thomas j. Collins, 2 vols (Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1981) The Works of Robert Browning [Centenary Edition], 10 vols (Smith, Elder, 1912)

Letters Browning to His American Friends: Letters Between the Brownings, the Storys and James

Russell Lowell, 1841-1890, ed. by Gertrude R. Hudson (Bowes & Bowes, 1965)

266

The Brownings' Correspondence, ed. by Philip Kelley, Ronald Hudson, Scott Lewis (Winfield: Wedgestone Press, 1984-)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Letters to Her Sister, 1846-1859, ed. by Leonard Huxley (John Murray, 1929)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Letters to Mrs David Ogilvy 1849-1861, ed. by Peter N. Heydon and Philip Kelley (John Murray, 1974)

The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ed. by Frederic G. Kenyon, 2 vols (Smith, Elder, 1897)

The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Mary Russell Mitford 1836-1854, ed. by Meredith B. Raymod and Mary R. Sullivan, 3 vols (Winfield: Wedgestone Press, 1983)

Letters From Owen Meredith to Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ed. by Aurelia B. Harlan and J. Lee Harlan, jr (Waco: Baylor University, 1937)

Letters of Robert Browning: Collected by Thomas J. Wise, ed. by Thurman L. Hood (john Murray, 1933)

New Letters of Robert Browning, ed. by William C. DeVane and Kenneth L. Knickerbocker (John Murray, 1951)

Robert Browning and Julia Wedgwood, ed. by Richard Curle (John Murray, 1937) Twenty-Two Unpublished Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning

Addressed to Henrietta and Arabella Moulton-Barrett (New York: United Fearture Syndicate, 1935)

Biographies Griffin, William H. And Harry C. Minchin, The Life of Robert Browning, 3rd edn

(Methuen, 1938) Irving, William and Park Honan, The Book, the Ring, and the Poet (Bodley Head, 1975) Miller, Betty B., Robert Browning: A Portrait (John Murray, 1952) Orr, Alexandra Sutherland, Life and Letters of Robert Browning, ed. by Fredric G. Kenyon

(Smith, Elder, 1908) Ryals, Clyde de L., The Life of Robert Browning (Oxford: Blackwell, 1993)

Section II

Articles "Adolphe Thiers", PM (June 1871), 375-78 Bagehot, Walter, "Senior's Journals", FR, n. s. 10 (1871), 156-65 Bentzon, Th. [Therese Blanc], "A French Friend of Browning, Joseph Milsand",

Scrlbner's Magazine, 20 (1896), 108-20 Blanc, Louis, "The Empire and the Emperor", Louis Blanc's Monthly Review: The New

World (August 1849), 41-, 54 "The Presidency and Universal Suffrage", Louis Blanc's Monthly Review: The New

World (July 1849), 22-37 Blind, Karl, "The Condition of France", FR, n. s. 6 (1869), 651-64 Bronson, Katherine C., "Browning in Asolo", Century Magazine, 59 (1900), 920-31 Collins, Thomas J., "The Poetry of Robert Browning: A Proposal for Reexamination",

Texas Studies in Literarture and Language, 15 (1973), 325-40 Crowder, Ashby B., "Browning's Case for the Elder Man", Studies in Browning and His

Circle, 2.2 (Fall 1974), 21-31 DeLaura, David J., "Ruskin and the Brownings: Twenty-Five Unpublished Letters",

Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 54.2 (Spring 1972), 314-56

267

Dicey Edward, "Elizabeth Barrett Browning", MM, 4 (1861), 402-04 Dove, Patrick E., "The Rifle Corps Movement and National Defences", MM, 1 (1859-60),

81-88 Fish, Thomas E., "Questing for the Base of Being': The Role of Epiphany in Prince

Hohenstiel-Schwangau", Victorian Poetry, 25 (1987), 27-43 Fulton, Lynn M., "The Standard of Flesh and Blood: Browning's Problems with Staged

Drama", Victorian Poetry, 35 (1997), 157-72 Fuson, Benjamin W., "Browning and His English Predecessors in the Dramatic

Monolog", State University of Iowa Studies, 8 (1948), 7-96 Harrison, Frederic, "The Fall of the Commune", FR, n. s. 10 (1871), 129-55 Hatton, Joseph, "The True History of 'Punch", London Society, 28 (1875), 49-56 Herford, Charles H., "Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau", Browning Society Papers, 2 (1885-

90), 133-45 Hetzler, Leo A., "The Case of Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau: Browning and Napoleon

III", Victorian Poetry, 15 (1977), 335-350 Hobart, Henry Vere, Lord, "The 'Mission' of Richard Cobden", MM, 15 (1867), 177-86 "Ideas and Opinions of Napoleonism", TEM, 19 (1852), 287-93 Innis, Harold A., "The English Press in the Nineteenth Century: An Economic

Approach", University of Toronto Quarterly, 15 (1945-46), 37-53 "Julius Caesar", LQR, 24 (1865), 364-406 Kelley, Philip, and William S. Peterson, "Browning's Final Revisions", Browning

Institute Studies, 1 (1973), 87-118 King, Joseph, "On Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau", Browning Society Papers, 2 (1885-90),

349-62 "The King of Prussia and Mr. D. D. Home", SM, n. s. 5 (1870), 561 Kirwan, A. V., "Decline of French Romantic Literature", Fraser's Magazine, 53 (1856),

711-21 Leslie, Thomas E. Cliffe, "The Question of the Age - Is it Peace? ", MM, 2 (1860), 72-88 "Life and Opinions of Walter Savage Landor", LQR, 24 (1865), 171-206 Ludlow, John M., "Victor Hugo's'Legend of the Ages", MM, 1 (1859-60), 131-41 Lushington, Franklin, "The Crisis of Italian Freedom", MM, 1 (1859-60), 55-63 Macgregor, John, "The Governments of Continental Europe", TEM, 19 (1852), 257-64 Marzials, Frank T., "Contributions to Punch, and other Works. By John Leech", LQR, 24

(1865), 105-26 Masson, David, "Politics of the Present, Foreign and Domestic", MM, 1 (1859-60), 1-10

"The Writings of Louis-Napoleon", MM, 1 (1859-60), 161-73 McCormick, James P., "Robert Browning and the Experimental Drama", PMLA, 68

(1953), 982-91 Monod, Edouard [Roger Delorme], A 1'auteur de la vie de Cesar (Paris: Dentu, 1865) "Mr. Robert Browning on Spiritualism", SM, 5 (1864), 310-17 Peckham, Morse, "Lessons To Be Learned From the Ohio Browning Edition", Studies In

Browning and His Circle, 1.1 (Spring 1973), 71-73 Power, Sir D'Arcy, "Lithotrity: The Case of the Emperor Napoleon III", British Journal of Surgery, 19.73 (July 1931), 1-7 "Punch's Cartoon of the Spirit Hand", SM, 1(1860), 241-48 Rogers, Rev. J. G., "The Dark Year of 1870", Christian World Magazine, 7 (1871), 31-39 Rossetti, William M., "Portraits of Robert Browning", Magazine of Art (1890), 181-88 "Rough Notes on the French Army", TEM, 19 (1852), 157-63 Shaw, W. David, "Victorian Poetics: An Approach Through Genre", Victorian

Newsletter, 39 (1971), 1-4

268

Sidgwick, Henry, "Alexis de Tocqueville", MM, 5 (1861-62), 37-45 Spender, Edward, "Fall of the Second Empire", LQR, 69 (1870), 21-. 64

"The Kingdom of Italy", LQR, 24 (1865), 446-92 "Napoleon III. ", LQR, 40 (1873), 130-61

"Spiritualism at the Tuileries", SM, 1 (1860), 140-41 Whitla, William, "Browning and the Ashburton Affair", Browning Society Notes", 2.2

(July 1872), 12-41 Wilkins, J. W., "Lord Palmerston and Our Foreign Policy", North British Review, 67

(1861), 225-80 Wilson, John, "Prevost-Paradol and Napoleon III", Quarterly Review, 129 (1870), 369-92

Books Abbot, Evelyn and Lewis Campbell, The Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett, 2 vols (John

Murray, 1897) Abbott, John S. C., The History of Napoleon III (Boston: Russell, 1869) Allingham, Helen and E. Baumer Williams, eds, Letters to William Allingham (New York:

Longman, Green, 1911)

--end Dollie Radford, eds, William Allingham's Diary (Pontwell, Sussex: Centaur Press, 1967)

Armstrong, Isobel, ed, Writers and Their Background: Robert Browning (Bell, 1974) Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus, trans. by Charles D.

Yonge, 3 vols (Henry Bohm, 1854) Bagehot, Walter, Literary Studies, ed. by Richard H. Hutton, 2 vole (Longman, Green,

1879) Bagot, Daniel, The Art of Poetry of Horace (Blackwood, 1863) Beaconsfield, [Benjamin Disraeli] Earl of, Endymion, 3 vols (Longman, Green, 1880) Beckett, Arthur W. A, Recollections of a Humourist (Pitman, 1907) Benson, Arthur, and Viscount Esher, eds, The Letters of Queen Victoria, 3 vols (John

Murray, 1907) Birrell, Augustine, Obiter Dicta (Stock, 1884) Blakiston, Noel, ed., The Roman Question, Extracts From the Despatches of Odo Russell From

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